Gates Foundation promises $2.5B for 'sidelined' women's health

The Gates Foundation has announced that over the next five years, it will spend $2.5 billion on research for issues that affect women's health, such as menopause and preeclampsia.

“Women’s health continues to be ignored, underfunded and sidelined," Bill Gates said in a news release announcing the donation. "Too many women still die from preventable causes or live in poor health. That must change.”

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, before 1993, women were rarely included in clinical trials and remain underrepresented today.

Despite making up 51 percent of the world's population, women only made up 40 percent of the participants in clinical trials for issues that primarily impacted women, according to a recent study.

Though $2.5 billion sounds like it would go a long way toward addressing the gender health gap, Dr. Anita Zaidi, head of gender equality at the Gates Foundation, admitted the money is a “drop in the bucket” compared to what is needed to address the centuries-long stigma surrounding women's health.

In an interview with Axios, Dr. Rasa Izadnegahdar, director of the maternal, newborn, child nutrition and health sector of the Gates Foundation, said the commitment doesn't begin "to scratch the surface" of what is needed.

"With some sadness, I say it's the largest sort of cumulative investment in women's health R&D, but the overall investment in this area needs to be substantially greater," Izadnegahdar said.

This pledge is considered one of the foundation's first major commitments since Gates announced he would give away his $200 billion fortune by 2045.