2.5 Billion Dollars to ‘PUSH’ Women’s Healthcare Progress

5 years and that’s all it takes, Bill Gates promises with a pledge to donate $2.5 billion, to progress and advocate for improving a woman’s lifespan. The categories are obstetric care, maternal health and nutrition, contraception, gynaecological and menstrual health and sexual transmitted infection prevention. This is all achieved through innovations in healthcare for low and middle income countries. The goal is to end maternal and child mortality and bring down poverty by 2045.

1. Next Gen Contraception

It’s an underfunded and an understudied area in low and middle income countries. WHO states that 40% of women stop it within the first year.

The contraceptive technologies are a once in a month pill, the micro array patch, and the six month injectables. The once in a month pill must be taken once every day for a month. The micro array patch sticks like a first aid skin patch, the stick part is removed and the micro-sized projections on the tape dissolves, leaving behind the hormones to get released as the months pass. It is designed to be simple and safe in its efficacy. For the six month injectables; the researchers have decided to halve the injection administering and extend the time period to six months instead.

2. AI Enabled Ultrasounds

In low and middle income countries, skilled technicians are limited. This would essentially mean that maternity and neonatal/child mortality will inevitably rise. Discussions on how to combat this were held at the International Maternal and Newborn Health Conference (IMNHC) in 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa.

There are two new innovations; one, by Philips which is a portable ultrasound device and the second, which helps with the knowledge of using this artificial device with AI instead of specialised training and is researched on by The Butterfly Network.

3. Future Ready Diagnostic Tools

Testing kits and diagnostic tools that identify and detect diseases like tuberculosis or HPV. A molecular testing system for the self-collected tongue swabs for tuberculosis, and the self-collected vaginal swabs for HIV. The focus is, think high quality but low-cost devices. They also have the inexpensive LumiraDx portable testing system, which health workers can bring to remote communities and obtain highly accurate results within just 12 minutes.

4. Gut-informed Nutrition

We’re fighting the vicious cycle of malnutrition not just poverty. A healthy gut improves the immunity and reduces inflammation that leads to lowered nutrition loss as well, we’re tackling a silent killer of child mortality. WHO, UNICEF, you name it… they’ve all spoken about it! Garbanzo beans holds the key, we can most likely achieve this. These contain sugars that can break down the complex carbohydrates, cream plantains are another one with the potential to improve the overall microbiome health.

5. New Forms of HIV Prevention

These are long-acting injectables such as cabotegravir (CAB-LA), a type of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that can help address some of the unique risks faced by young women and adolescent girls, including the stigma associated with taking the daily oral forms of PrEP.

CAB-LA is more effective than the oral PrEP and has many other characteristics that may appeal to users.

6. A One and Done Vaccine for HPV

95% of cervical cancers are caused by HPV in low and middle income countries. PATH hopes to change that someday by accelerating the vaccine’s access in a single dose form. The change drives towards a new regimen for a single dose of HPV vaccine. The data accumulated to date support the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsement of a single-dose HPV vaccination schedule for substantially reducing the incidence of HPV-attributable cervical precancer and cancer for the primary target of girls aged 9-14 years old and for young women aged 15-20 years old.