Melinda French Gates just announced she's dropping $100 million on women's health research.

The partnership between her organization Pivotal and nonprofit Wellcome Leap promises to tackle cardiovascular disease, menopause, and autoimmune conditions - real problems that kill real women. It's going to take "years, not decades" to see results, French Gates told Robin Roberts on Good Morning America Wednesday.

"Women go into the doctor and they can't find a solution or they aren't listened to," French Gates said.

How The Funds Will Be Distributed

The money splits evenly—$50 million from Wellcome Leap, $50 million from Pivotal, which French Gates founded in 2015. They're launching two new research programs next year using Wellcome Leap's "accelerated model" that supposedly delivers results faster.

The research focus areas—autoimmune disease, mental health, cardiovascular health - are legitimate crises. Women are 75% more likely to have autoimmune diseases. Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined. But we already know a lot about treating these conditions.

French Gates noted that women live nine years longer than men "in a state of not good health."

Passionate About Women’s Health

This is her latest women's health splash after announcing $250 million last October for organizations improving women's mental and physical health. The awardees get announced in November.

She stepped down from the Gates Foundation last year after divorcing Bill Gates in 2021. Now she's building her own philanthropic empire, complete with big announcements and morning show appearances.

The timing's interesting. Women just lost federal abortion rights. Maternal mortality is skyrocketing. Insurance companies deny coverage for basic women's health services.

Women's health has been criminally underfunded and under-researched forever. Only 4% of healthcare R&D goes to women-specific conditions. That needs to change.

Is This The Immediate Need?

As commendable as this project is, it feels like applying expensive band-aids while ignoring the gaping wound. We need universal healthcare. We need doctors who believe women. We need accessible treatment for conditions we already understand.

The "accelerated model" Wellcome Leap touts sounds revolutionary until you realize medical breakthroughs still take forever to reach actual patients. Even if they discover something amazing next year, it'll be a decade before regular women benefit - if they can even afford it.

French Gates has made women's health her thing for 20 years, she says. Sadly, in those two decades, American women's health outcomes have gotten worse, not better. Life expectancy is declining. Maternal mortality is rising. Mental health is cratering.

The real solution isn't innovative. It's boring stuff like expanding Medicaid, regulating insurance companies, training more doctors to actually listen to women. It's systemic change.

Women don't need another billionaire promising future breakthroughs. They need healthcare today. They need doctors who believe them when they say they're in pain. They need insurance that covers birth control, mammograms, and mental health without bankrupting them.

The Bottom Line

This $100 million could pay for actual healthcare for thousands of women right now. Instead, it's going to fund research that might help hypothetical women years from now, assuming they can afford whatever treatments emerge.

French Gates surely means well. But good intentions don't pay medical bills or bring back women who died from treatable conditions while waiting for research breakthroughs.

Women need healthcare, not hope. They need access, not announcements. They need help today, not promises about tomorrow.

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