ASHM has today been announced an awardee of Action for Women’s Health, a $250 million global open call launched in 2024 to support organisations working to improve women’s mental and physical health around the world.
Although women make up half of the world’s population, they face inequities in nearly every aspect of their health. Women’s health is chronically underfunded and under-researched, and even when resources and solutions do exist, they often aren’t reaching the women who need them.
Out of over 4,000 organisations from 119 countries who applied, 80+ organisations were identified for funding, each receiving between $1 million and $5 million USD.
ASHM Global Division Director Michelle O’Connor said the grant will enable ASHM to upscale its work across Asia and the Pacific.
“This is an enormous opportunity for us to bring our work to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis across Asia and the Pacific region.”
“So far, our focus has been on Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, but through this grant we’ll be able to expand our locally led, partnership-based approach into other countries with similar need,” she said.
ASHM CEO Alexis Apostolellis said the grant will allow ASHM to replicate the success of its Supporting Triple Elimination in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste (STEPT) program in other countries.
“Our triple elimination work has had a demonstrable impact in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, with great increases in the number of women being tested and treated for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B during pregnancy,” said Apostolellis.
Currently, the STEPT program is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and ASHM Members. This new grant will be used to expand this work across the region.
“Because of this funding, we now have the opportunity to bring this work to other countries, to understand their unique needs and the role we can play to work towards triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis,” he said.
Action for Women’s Health is funded by Pivotal, a group of impact organisations founded by Melinda French Gates, and managed by Lever for Change, an organization with a track record of identifying bold ideas to solve the world’s most pressing problems. More information about the initiative and awardees is available at: https://leverforchange.org/open-calls/action-for-womens-health
