Press Release: Advancing Women’s Health—A Global Campaign for G20 countries
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2025 – In a bold step towards bridging the gaps in women’s health, the Dove Foundation for Global Change in conjunction with W20, the women 20 engagement group of the G20 Presidency have launched a Women’s health campaign that has been sent to all G20 countries calling for action to bridge the gap in Women’s health.
The Women’s Global Health Campaign, the first of its kind in all G20 countries is dedicated to enabling the policy, regulatory and implementation focus to tackle the current gaps that affects hundreds of millions. Our mission is to ensure that every woman receives the support and resources necessary for a healthy and fulfilling life.
The campaign explains why women’s health should be prioritized and the economic benefit in doing so.
Why Women’s Health Must Be a National Priority
Women’s health is a critical issue that extends beyond individual well-being to affect national productivity, economic growth, and social stability. This briefing outlines the urgent need for policy action at both national and international levels to close the women’s health gap, emphasizing that poor health among women has far-reaching consequences for families, communities, and the broader economy.
The Economic case for investment in Women’s Health
The economic and social impact of women’s health is profound. Untreated health conditions in women lead to reduced productivity, fewer working hours, and lower lifetime income. Even when women are not engaged in paid employment, their illness imposes economic costs on families, as unpaid labor is lost and relatives may reduce their own employment to provide care. National health systems also bear higher costs due to increased demand for healthcare and social services.
Women are the backbone of both unpaid and paid care systems, providing 76% of unpaid care and making up 67% of the paid care workforce. When women’s health deteriorates, these systems weaken, resulting in immediate economic consequences for families and communities. Closing the women’s health gap could have the same economic impact as adding 137 million full-time workers to the global economy by 2040.
Health gaps between women and men are significant. Women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men, which translates into a substantial loss of healthy life-years and affects national stability. Many major conditions, both reproductive and non-reproductive, are underdiagnosed in women. Cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death for women globally, is often recognized late, increasing mortality and long-term healthcare costs. Endometriosis affects 190 million women worldwide, and when left untreated, can cause severe organ damage and disability. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as fibroids and cardiovascular disease sharply increase costs for national health systems. Fibroids alone account for 29% of all gynecological hospitalizations among women aged 15–54 and up to 60% of hysterectomies.
Maternal health remains a pressing concern, with 700 women dying every day from pregnancy-related causes and 16 babies dying every two minutes. Hypertensive disorders affect one in twelve pregnancies worldwide. Chronic conditions such as autoimmune diseases, chronic pain, migraines, and bone health issues disproportionately affect women, who often face delayed diagnosis and inadequate treatment. Over 60% of women will experience a urinary tract infection (UTI), with many suffering from chronic or recurrent infections that contribute to antimicrobial resistance. Gender-based violence is a persistent driver of poor health, resulting in chronic pain, trauma, and reproductive health issues. Health systems frequently fail to integrate violence against women and girls into clinical care and data systems.
Systemic challenges further exacerbate these issues. Diagnostic and treatment pathways are often inadequate or inaccessible, with women facing long wait times and little guidance. Many diseases are understood primarily through male-centric research, leading to misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment for women. Innovations in women’s health lack national scale due to insufficient investment, and women are under-represented in health leadership roles, which affects research priorities and funding. Regulatory barriers also stifle innovation and slow the adoption of new solutions.
A call to action for policy and implementation change
Immediate policy actions are needed. Governments should increase targeted research funding and dedicate budgets for women’s diagnostics. Industry should be incentivized to develop sex-specific solutions, and clinical guidelines must be updated to integrate women’s health into primary care. Supporting local manufacturing and blended finance models will help scale innovations. Multi-sector task forces and annual reporting on women’s health outcomes should be established, alongside cost-benefit analyses and financial models to enable earlier diagnosis and treatment. Fast-tracking regulatory pathways for women-focused innovations and integrating women’s health into community health programmes and frontline provider training are also essential steps.
Within the next six to twelve months, governments should support the setup of a G20 taskforce to develop an urgent implementation plan for women’s health. National women’s health taskforces should be established in each G20 country, involving civil society, research institutions, private sector, and government bodies. There is a need to call for research and development of new innovations to address care pathways for women’s health conditions. Public commitments from Parliamentarians are crucial to prioritize women’s health and support diagnostic and treatment programs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, women’s health is a strategic imperative for national prosperity and global stability. The evidence is clear: women spend significantly more of their lives in poor health than men, and delayed diagnosis of key conditions drives up costs and reduces productivity. These gaps are solvable. Investing in early diagnosis, treatments, equitable care, and scalable innovations is not only the right thing to do—it is the smart thing to do for economic growth, social resilience, and population well-being.
A Call to Action
This Campaign calls upon policymakers across G20 countries to set up an urgent taskforce on women’s health and collaborate to scale up existing women’s health innovations and provide support for the development of diagnostics and treatments where there are current gaps.
For more information about the campaign, upcoming events, or ways to get involved, please contact our press office at womenshealth@dovefgc.org or visit our website at www.dovefoundationglobalchange.org.
Other partners include the World Heart Federation, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Nadia’s initiative (Nobel Prize winner), Revvity, FIND, Pathfinder, Women in Global Health, Cochrane, Royal Orthapaedic Society, P.Happi, Women’s Budget Group
About the Dove Foundation for Global Change
The Dove Foundation for Global Change is an international charity committed to creating a world where everyone has the access to the opportunity to live a life of decent quality. To achieve this, we must first overcome the deep-rooted inequalities faced by women and girls. Our work focuses on expanding access to health, education, economic opportunity, and safety for women and girls worldwide. We drive policy change by engaging with global leaders, while also delivering regional programmes that make a direct impact to communities. We champion the inclusion of women in all policies, because lasting progress requires nothing less.
About Women 20 South Africa
Women 20 South Africa is the official women’s engagement group of the South African G20 2025 Presidency, focused on gender equity. Its primary objective is to ensure that gender considerations are mainstreamed into G20 discussions and translated into the G20 Leaders’ Declaration as policies and commitments that foster gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.