Global Women’s Health Campaign
The time to invest is now.
Closing the women’s health gap could unlock trillions of dollars for the global economy every year, yet women still spend around 25% more of their lives in poor health than men.
This is about the basic right to live without pain and fear.
We have written to over 4,500 G20 leaders, parliamentarians, policymakers and diplomatic representatives, calling for a G20 Women’s Health Taskforce, national and local implementation groups, and for every political leader to sit down with their local hospitals and doctors to ask: are you flagging these conditions and the effects of violence early, and if not, what do you need to do it? What do you need to solve it?
Whether a woman wants to build a company, be a stay-at-home mum, or both, chronic illness, infertility, untreated conditions and violence all brutally restrict her choices and ability to do either.
Around 10% of women have endometriosis, up to 80% have fibroids, many lose organs to “benign” disease, cardiovascular disease accounts for 1 in 3 deaths of all women each year, 1 in 3 women have been subjected to physical/ sexual violence leaving deep and long-term health issues. Pre-eclampsia – where high blood pressure is often dismissed in women – can cost both a mother and her baby their lives. From traumatic injuries and complications in pregnancy to lifelong mental health conditions and chronic pain, the list goes on. The solution is innovation, investment and prioritisation
We are calling on governments to scale up existing initiatives, devices, programmes and innovations in women’s health, and to work with us, our partners and other G20 groups to use these as a foundation and fill the gaps.
Health
Health is the foundation of every opportunity. Without it, women and girls are held back from education, work, and participation in society. Yet across the world, they continue to face barriers to the care they need.
Too many women still die from preventable complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Sexual and reproductive health services remain out of reach or restricted in many countries. Mental health is often ignored, even as women shoulder the consequences of violence, poverty, and discrimination. Health systems themselves are biased, designed largely around men’s needs, leaving gaps in research, treatment, and funding that directly harm women.
At The Dove Foundation for Global Change, we focus on filling these gaps. We bring together governments, the private sector, researchers, civil society, and local communities to ensure that women’s health is recognised, prioritised, and acted upon. By working across levels, we connect grassroots realities with global decision making, so policies and resources reach those who need them most.
More Than Reproductive Health
Women’s health cannot be reduced to fertility, menstrual health, or reproductive care alone. Women are more than mothers, and so are their health needs. Heart disease remains the leading killer of women worldwide, yet symptoms are often missed or dismissed. Obesity is another growing challenge, driving risks of diabetes and cardiovascular illness, particularly in communities where access to healthy food and safe spaces for activity is limited. Recognising and addressing these broader health concerns is essential to building systems that see and serve the whole woman
The Global Women’s Health Campaign
Issued by The Dove Foundation for Global Change and W20 South Africa
The Global Women’s Health Campaign is the first initiative of its kind, calling on governments across all G20 countries to urgently close the women’s health gap.
In November 2025, The Dove Foundation for Global Change, in partnership with W20 South Africa, launched this unprecedented effort — reaching almost 5,000 political, diplomatic and strategic representatives across the G20.
It brings together leading global organisations, innovators, researchers and survivor-led movements united by one message:
Women’s health is a national priority — and the future of every economy depends on it.
Why This Campaign Matters
Women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men, largely due to delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment pathways, and health systems not designed with women in mind.
Evidence from the Global Women’s Health Letter and the Innovation & Policy Pack shows:
* Closing the women’s health gap could unlock up to $1 trillion in global economic growth every year.
* Targeted action on nine major conditions could generate $400 billion annually.
* For every $1 invested, governments gain $3 in economic returns.
* Women reinvest 90% of their income into families and communities.
* Cardiovascular disease kills 13× more women than breast cancer.
* 700 women die every day from pregnancy-related causes — almost all preventable.
* Conditions like endometriosis still take eight years on average to diagnose.
These are systemic failures — and entirely solvable.
The Call to G20 Governments
Our campaign sets out four urgent actions for political leaders:
- Establish a G20 Taskforce on Women’s Health
To coordinate accelerated implementation, harmonise regulation and scale proven solutions.
- Create National & Local Women’s Health Implementation Groups
Bringing together government, civil society, research institutions, clinical leadership, regulators and industry.
- Engage Hospitals and Health Leadership
To ensure faster referral, earlier diagnosis, and equitable treatment pathways for women across all major conditions.
- Use the Global Women’s Health Innovation Platform
Connecting policymakers with tested innovations, diagnostics, technologies and evidence-based programmes.
The campaign brings together evidence, case studies and scalable solutions from leading organisations working across diagnostics, reproductive health, maternal health, cardiovascular disease, bone health, chronic conditions and conflict-related sexual violence.
* World Heart Federation
* Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG)
* Nadia’s Initiative
* Revvity
* FIND – Diagnosis for All
* Pathfinder International
* Women in Global Health (WGH)
* Royal Osteoporosis Society
* P.Happi
* Cochrane
* Gates Foundation
These organisations provided the evidence forming the foundation of the Innovation Platform and guiding the campaign’s policy recommendations. While significant gaps remain across women’s health, these contributions represent an essential starting point for building scalable solutions across G20 countries and beyond.
How Parliamentarians Can Join
As part of the campaign, we are establishing a global Women’s Health Parliamentary Network for elected representatives across the G20.
Parliamentarians can join by:
* Signing the campaign pledge to prioritise women’s health
* Nominating a focal point to engage with the campaign
* Working with local hospitals and clinical leaders to improve diagnostic and treatment pathways
* Participating in national consultations on procurement, regulation and clinical guidance
* Championing the Global Women’s Health Innovation Platform within Parliament
The Network is open to all political parties and G20 legislatures.
Members receive campaign briefings, innovation updates, and opportunities to co-host parliamentary events and roundtables.
How Organisations Can Join
To join the Global Women’s Health Campaign, organisations are asked to provide:
* A commitment to support the four core asks
* A logo for inclusion
* Support in sharing the campaign
* (Optional) case studies, innovations or programmes
Participation ensures visibility in the government engagement phase, the Innovation Platform, and future advocacy stages.
A Historic Opportunity for Women’s Health
For the first time, global innovators, medical colleges, survivor-led movements, researchers, economists and civil society organisations are aligned behind a single message:
Prioritising women’s health is essential for economic prosperity, social resilience and global stability.
This campaign signals a turning point — with the potential to transform outcomes for millions of women and girls across every G20 country and beyond.
We invite governments, parliamentarians, institutions and partners worldwide to help lead this change.
For further information please contact: womenshealth@dovefgc.org
Health is the foundation of every opportunity. Without it, women and girls are held back from education, work, and participation in society. Yet across the world, they continue to face barriers to the care they need.
Too many women still die from preventable complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Sexual and reproductive health services remain out of reach or restricted in many countries. Mental health is often ignored, even as women shoulder the consequences of violence, poverty, and discrimination. Health systems themselves are biased, designed largely around men’s needs, leaving gaps in research, treatment, and funding that directly harm women.
At The Dove Foundation for Global Change, we focus on filling these gaps. We bring together governments, the private sector, researchers, civil society, and local communities to ensure that women’s health is recognised, prioritised, and acted upon. By working across levels, we connect grassroots realities with global decision making, so policies and resources reach those who need them most.
More Than Reproductive Health
Women’s health cannot be reduced to fertility, menstrual health, or reproductive care alone. Women are more than mothers, and so are their health needs. Heart disease remains the leading killer of women worldwide, yet symptoms are often missed or dismissed. Obesity is another growing challenge, driving risks of diabetes and cardiovascular illness, particularly in communities where access to healthy food and safe spaces for activity is limited. Recognising and addressing these broader health concerns is essential to building systems that see and serve the whole woman
The Global Women’s Health Campaign
Issued by The Dove Foundation for Global Change and W20 South Africa
The Global Women’s Health Campaign is the first initiative of its kind, calling on governments across all G20 countries to urgently close the women’s health gap.
In November 2025, The Dove Foundation for Global Change, in partnership with W20 South Africa, launched this unprecedented effort — reaching almost 5,000 political, diplomatic and strategic representatives across the G20.
It brings together leading global organisations, innovators, researchers and survivor-led movements united by one message:
Women’s health is a national priority — and the future of every economy depends on it.
Why This Campaign Matters
Women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men, largely due to delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment pathways, and health systems not designed with women in mind.
Evidence from the Global Women’s Health Letter and the Innovation & Policy Pack shows:
* Closing the women’s health gap could unlock up to $1 trillion in global economic growth every year.
* Targeted action on nine major conditions could generate $400 billion annually.
* For every $1 invested, governments gain $3 in economic returns.
* Women reinvest 90% of their income into families and communities.
* Cardiovascular disease kills 13× more women than breast cancer.
* 700 women die every day from pregnancy-related causes — almost all preventable.
* Conditions like endometriosis still take eight years on average to diagnose.
These are systemic failures — and entirely solvable.
The Call to G20 Governments
Our campaign sets out four urgent actions for political leaders:
- Establish a G20 Taskforce on Women’s Health
To coordinate accelerated implementation, harmonise regulation and scale proven solutions.
- Create National & Local Women’s Health Implementation Groups
Bringing together government, civil society, research institutions, clinical leadership, regulators and industry.
- Engage Hospitals and Health Leadership
To ensure faster referral, earlier diagnosis, and equitable treatment pathways for women across all major conditions.
- Use the Global Women’s Health Innovation Platform
Connecting policymakers with tested innovations, diagnostics, technologies and evidence-based programmes.
The campaign brings together evidence, case studies and scalable solutions from leading organisations working across diagnostics, reproductive health, maternal health, cardiovascular disease, bone health, chronic conditions and conflict-related sexual violence.
These organisations provided the evidence forming the foundation of the Innovation Platform and guiding the campaign’s policy recommendations. While significant gaps remain across women’s health, these contributions represent an essential starting point for building scalable solutions across G20 countries and beyond.
How Parliamentarians Can Join
As part of the campaign, we are establishing a global Women’s Health Parliamentary Network for elected representatives across the G20.
Parliamentarians can join by:
* Signing the campaign pledge to prioritise women’s health
* Nominating a focal point to engage with the campaign
* Working with local hospitals and clinical leaders to improve diagnostic and treatment pathways
* Participating in national consultations on procurement, regulation and clinical guidance
* Championing the Global Women’s Health Innovation Platform within Parliament
The Network is open to all political parties and G20 legislatures.
Members receive campaign briefings, innovation updates, and opportunities to co-host parliamentary events and roundtables.
How Organisations Can Join
To join the Global Women’s Health Campaign, organisations are asked to provide:
* A commitment to support the four core asks
* A logo for inclusion
* Support in sharing the campaign
* (Optional) case studies, innovations or programmes
Participation ensures visibility in the government engagement phase, the Innovation Platform, and future advocacy stages.
A Historic Opportunity for Women’s Health
For the first time, global innovators, medical colleges, survivor-led movements, researchers, economists and civil society organisations are aligned behind a single message:
Prioritising women’s health is essential for economic prosperity, social resilience and global stability.
This campaign signals a turning point — with the potential to transform outcomes for millions of women and girls across every G20 country and beyond.
We invite governments, parliamentarians, institutions and partners worldwide to help lead this change.
For further information please contact: womenshealth@dovefgc.org
Our Global Women’s Health Campaign
Our Global Women’s Health Campaign drives this mission forward. It is a movement to put women and girls at the centre of health systems worldwide. Campaigners at the community level share resources, raise awareness, and mobilise local voices. Their work is amplified by global advocacy that pushes governments and institutions to fund and deliver on women’s health in all its dimensions. By linking bottom up activism with top down influence, the campaign makes women’s health impossible to ignore.
We believe health is more than survival. It is dignity, autonomy, and the freedom to shape one’s future. That is why we are committed to building health systems that work for women and girls everywhere.
Join us in closing the health gap for women and girls.
Conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, and fibroids affect hundreds of millions of women, but diagnosis is delayed for years and treatment options remain limited. Symptoms like heavy bleeding, fatigue, bloating, and abdominal pain are dismissed as “normal,” leaving countless women without answers or care.
This neglect is unacceptable. Women’s health must be made a priority in research, policy, and healthcare systems. That means creating awareness so women can seek help earlier, training frontline professionals like pharmacists to recognise conditions, and investing in better, faster diagnostics and treatments. It also means embedding women’s health as a permanent part of national and global health agendas.
Addressing women’s health is not just about fairness. It is essential to improving public health, strengthening economies, and ensuring that women everywhere can live with dignity and opportunity.
More Than Reproductive Health
Women’s health cannot be reduced to fertility, menstrual health, or reproductive care alone. Women are more than mothers, and so are their health needs. Heart disease remains the leading killer of women worldwide, yet symptoms are often missed or dismissed. Obesity is another growing challenge, driving risks of diabetes and cardiovascular illness, particularly in communities where access to healthy food and safe spaces for activity is limited. Recognising and addressing these broader health concerns is essential to building systems that see and serve the whole woman.
Our Global Women’s Health Campaign
Our Global Women’s Health Campaign drives this mission forward. It is a movement to put women and girls at the centre of health systems worldwide. Campaigners at the community level share resources, raise awareness, and mobilise local voices. Their work is amplified by global advocacy that pushes governments and institutions to fund and deliver on women’s health in all its dimensions. By linking bottom up activism with top down influence, the campaign makes women’s health impossible to ignore.
We believe health is more than survival. It is dignity, autonomy, and the freedom to shape one’s future. That is why we are committed to building health systems that work for women and girls everywhere.
Join us in closing the health gap for women and girls.
Conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, and fibroids affect hundreds of millions of women, but diagnosis is delayed for years and treatment options remain limited. Symptoms like heavy bleeding, fatigue, bloating, and abdominal pain are dismissed as “normal,” leaving countless women without answers or care.
This neglect is unacceptable. Women’s health must be made a priority in research, policy, and healthcare systems. That means creating awareness so women can seek help earlier, training frontline professionals like pharmacists to recognise conditions, and investing in better, faster diagnostics and treatments. It also means embedding women’s health as a permanent part of national and global health agendas.
Addressing women’s health is not just about fairness. It is essential to improving public health, strengthening economies, and ensuring that women everywhere can live with dignity and opportunity.
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Adenomyosis
Adenomyosis occurs when the tissue that normally lines the uterus (endometrial tissue) grows into the muscular wall of the uterus.
Endometriosis
Uterine Fibroids
Cervical Cancer
Preeclampsia