• Gates Foundation announces $2.5 billion global commitment to women’s health
• Dr Anita Zaidi says vaccine will initially be given to 9 to 11-year-olds, later offered to older girls
• Govt and private sector must work together, as even the richest cannot go it alone, says Bill Gates
KARACHI: Cervical cancer vaccines will be rolled out in Pakistan from September, a top official from the Gates Foundation told Dawn on Monday.
Pakistan has a population of 73.8 million women aged 15 years and older who are at risk of developing cervical cancer, as per a factsheet by the HPV Information Centre.
Cervical cancer is the second most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age. But with a single dose of HPV (Human Papillomavirus) vaccine, females would be immune for life.
According to Dr Anita Zaidi, president of the foundation’s Gender Equality Division, the vaccine will be given to nine to 11-year-old girls, as part of initial outreach campaigns, and can eventually be offered to older girls.
Since screening for cervical cancer is limited in Pakistan, prevention is the best tool in this case, she said.
This initiative is separate from the Gates Foundation’s $2.5 billion global commitment through 2030 to transform women’s health across every stage of life.
Announced on Monday, the pledge will support 40 innovations in five critical, chronically underfunded areas — particularly those affecting women in low- and middle-income countries.
“Investing in women’s health has a lasting impact across generations. It leads to healthier families, stronger economies, and a more just world,” Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, said at the launch event.
“Yet women’s health continues to be ignored, underfunded, and sidelined. Too many women still die from preventable causes or live in poor health. That must change. But we can’t do it alone,” he said.
Research shows that for every $1 invested in women’s health, it generates $3 in economic growth. Closing the gender health gap could boost the global economy by $1 trillion per year by 2040.
Despite clear economic returns and the biological fact that women are necessary for the survival of our species, research and development spending on female health is severely limited.
According to a 2001 analysis by McKinsey & Co, only one per cent of research and innovation is carried out into female-specific conditions, beyond cancer.
‘Can’t do it alone’
Examples for innovations that could particularly impact women in low-income countries are six-month injectable contraceptives that can be taken discreetly, particularly important in countries like Pakistan, where even slogans for body autonomy are reviled.
The Gates Foundation has worked in Pakistan for years, collaborating with institutions like Aga Khan University and the Lahore University of Management Sciences to support locally grounded innovations — from gut health to AI applications in women’s care.
But as the tech billionaire points out, even the richest in the world can’t do it alone. The government and private sector have to work together to co-invest in women’s health innovations – a tall order in a country where mothers can justify so-called ‘honour killings’ of their daughters.
When life is being denied, it is easy to think of nutrition as a rather trivial matter.
“When I was practising in Pakistan, I would see malnourished children with various health issues,” recalled Dr Zaidi, who has previously worked at Aga Khan University.
“I would advise mothers to breastfeed properly, but their own health was so compromised, they had little to give.”
Without addressing the mother’s health, we cannot address children’s health, she said. The neglect doled out to women has led Pakistan’s newborn mortality rate to be among the highest in the world, with one out of 25 babies dying in the first month of life.
Though many aspects of women’s health need to be addressed, Dr Zaidi says that if there is only one area that could be focused on, it would be health during pregnancy.
The gut health of pregnant women is vitally important because it is deeply connected to malnutrition.
A lack of food, appropriate calories, and vitamins, combined with a living environment that exposes individuals to numerous infections, leads to an inflamed gut and poor health. When women in poor health get pregnant, they deliver unhealthy babies, and the cycle continues, creating a transgenerational issue.
Pakistan will not prosper without recognising that women’s development has to be central to the country’s development, Dr Zaidi says. Ultimately, however, through civil society, policy making and implementation, it is up to Pakistanis to change the reality that women face.
Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2025
