WEF 2026: Closing the Women's Health Gap by 2030

WEF 2026: Experts Push for Accessible, Affordable Women's Healthcare

Experts at the World Economic Forum 2026 emphasized that closing the significant health gap for women requires a focus on accessibility, affordability, and personalized care. They highlighted that insufficient investment in women-specific health research leads to preventable losses, estimated at $1 trillion globally. Key solutions discussed include translating scientific innovations into scalable policy and delivery, with examples like AI-based ultrasounds and contraceptive patches. The panel stressed that sustainable financing and strong primary healthcare systems are essential to turn medical products into real-world impact for women.

Key Points: WEF 2026: Closing the Women's Health Gap by 2030

Close health gap by 2030
Boost accessibility & affordability
Personalize diagnostics & treatment
Match innovation with delivery systems

Jan 22, 2026

3 min read

WEF 2026: Accessibility, affordability, and personalisation key to boost women's health, say experts

Experts at WEF 2026 highlight accessibility, affordability, and personalization as keys to improving women's health and unlocking $1 trillion in economic potential.

"The greatest innovations are the ones that will end up being accessible, affordable, and used by women around the world. - Gargee Ghosh Chasin"

New Delhi, Jan 22

Improving accessibility, affordability, and tailoring treatment and diagnostics to women's needs are some of the crucial measures to closing the health gap for the fairer sex by 2030, said experts at the ongoing World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos.

Women spend 25 per cent more of their lives in poorer health than men due to delayed diagnoses and limited access to appropriate care.

At a session titled " Breakthroughs in women's health, the experts highlighted how insufficient investment in sex-specific research and innovation for women results in preventable mortality, morbidity, and loss of economic potential -- estimated to be $1 trillion globally.

The panel unanimously pointed out that the focus needs to be on the human side of implementation.

"The greatest innovations are the ones that will end up being accessible, affordable, and used by women around the world," said Gargee Ghosh Chasin, President, Global Policy and Advocacy, Gates Foundation.

"While invention is critical, access and use are equally critical. And that's what makes the difference between product and impact," she added, while mentioning incredible innovations specific to women's health, such as the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer, an AI-based ultrasound that will bring early diagnosis of high-risk pregnancy, and a microarray patch for contraception.

Sania Nishtar, Chief Executive Officer, Gavi-The Vaccine Alliance, stated that more than just innovation, it is important to translate science and evidence into policy, and then policy into pilots, and then pilots into scalable delivery.

"Innovation has to be matched with delivery capability. And the challenge is that if you do not have that delivery capability, if you do not have sustainable financing, you're unable to use innovations for the impact that they're intended to have," she added.

Nadia Calviño, President, European Investment Bank, stressed the importance of primary health and the distribution of the preventative treatments to women.

"Primary health is the starting point for a healthy society. Of course, women's health is the basis for a healthy society, a stable society. So, I really think we have to put a lot of focus on that, the family doctors, the way that we can get these medicines and these preventative treatments to every woman around the world," Calviño said.

Orazio Schillaci, Minister of Health, Ministry of Health of Italy, called for increasing the number of clinical trials tailored for women and personalising treatment for women. Schillaci also mentioned the potential of artificial intelligence in enhancing the health sector.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

Aman W

Finally, the world is talking about this! The $1 trillion economic loss figure is staggering. When women are healthy, families and economies thrive. In our tier-2 city, even getting a qualified gynecologist is a challenge. Affordable diagnostics is the key.

Rohit P

Good points, but I respectfully disagree on one thing from the article. While AI and innovation are great, we need to fix our basic primary health infrastructure first. A fancy AI ultrasound is useless if there's no reliable electricity or trained staff to operate it in a village clinic. Let's get the basics right.

Sarah B

Sania Nishtar's point about translating policy into scalable delivery is spot on. We have so many government schemes on paper for women's health in India, but the last-mile delivery often fails. Hope the Ayushman Bharat scheme can integrate more of these tailored, preventative approaches for women.

Kavya N

Personalisation is everything! Women's health issues are not one-size-fits-all. What works in Delhi might not work in Kerala or Assam. Cultural context, diet, lifestyle – all matter. More clinical trials focused on women in the Indian context are desperately needed. This is a wake-up call for our research institutions.

Michael C

The HPV vaccine mention is crucial. Cervical cancer is a major concern here. If these global forums can help drive down the cost and improve access to such vaccines in developing countries, that would be a massive win. Public-private partnerships are the way forward.

WEF 2026: Accessibility, affordability, and personalisation key to boost women's health, say experts

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