Women’s health being neglected worldwide, says Melinda French Gates

Women’s health is being neglected worldwide with “maternity care deserts” more common, millions denied abortions and maternal death rates surging, Melinda French Gates has warned as she launches a $250m (£190m) fund to improve women’s physical and mental health globally.

Despite advances in medicine, women experience “unacceptable” inequities across all aspects of their health, spend more years living with ill health and still face barriers to accessing basic care. Women in rich and poor nations are affected and more than 700 are dying in childbirth each day, French Gates said.

Women have also been suffering with the global consequences of the abortion bans enacted in the US after the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022. French Gates told the Guardian the US election next month would be critical. “There is so much at stake for women and families,” she added.

Today she will launch Action for Women’s Health through her organisation, Pivotal, and direct what will total $250m in new grants to groups around the world working on improving women’s health.

“To fully exercise power over their lives, women need to be mentally and physically healthy. And yet, women’s health is being neglected everywhere,” French Gates said. “More than 1 billion women and girls suffer from malnutrition. Reproductive healthcare is being denied in the US and other countries. And globally, a woman dies in childbirth every two minutes.”

She added: “This is unacceptable, but there is reason for hope. Organisations around the world are taking innovative approaches to addressing these challenges, and this open call is about getting them the resources they need to scale up and reach as many people as possible.”

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Source: The Guardian, 9 October 2024