Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by health inequities

Targeted interventions to address gender-based global health disparities

Women and girls face distinct challenges, including those related to reproductive health, and they often have social and cultural barriers blocking their access to adequate nutrition and health care. Aimed at making an outsized impact on overlooked issues, several of our programs treat diseases and health challenges that disproportionately affect women and girls.

1M: million pregnant women have active syphilis, which is the second most common infectious cause of stillbirth
21M: million adolescent girls become pregnant each year, with about half of the pregnancies being unintended. Adolescent mothers and their babies face heightened health risks
342K: women died from cervical cancer, which is caused by HPV, in 2020. And 90% of those deaths were in low- and middle-income countries
1B: adolescent girls and women have undernutrition, deficiencies in essential micronutrients, and anemia
26%: of adolescent girls worldwide are anemic compared to 18% of adolescent boys

Tackling diseases that uniquely affect women and girls

We help detect and treat syphilis in pregnant women – a deeply neglected condition globally. We support improved health and quality of life for adolescent girls who are at high risk for anemia. And we help governments prioritize and deliver deworming treatments, which are shown to increase girls’ chances of staying in school.