Women’s Health at SGHI
Explore innovative solutions and advancements in global health at SGHI. Join us in making a difference and improving healthcare worldwide.
Reclaiming Health, Restoring Agency
Women’s health is the heartbeat of equitable development. Yet across Kenya and the Global South, millions of women still face preventable illness, financial hardship, and systemic neglect. SGHI is changing this — building health systems that center women’s needs through innovation, financing reform, and digital transformation.
The Challenge
The Health Gap Women Can No Longer Afford
Across the Global South, women’s health remains one of the world’s most persistent inequities — driven by underinvestment, social stigma, and fragile health systems. In Kenya and many lower-middle-income countries, women face a convergence of challenges that span the life course — from unsafe pregnancy and preventable infections to chronic diseases that go untreated until it’s too late.
The Health Gap Women Can No Longer Afford
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Every day, more than 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth — 94% of them in low- and middle-income countries.
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In Kenya, the maternal mortality rate stands at 355 deaths per 100,000 live births, nearly five times higher than the global target set under SDG 3.
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Up to 60% of maternal deaths in Kenya are preventable through timely care, yet shortages of skilled providers, poor referral systems, and weak financing continue to cost lives.
Silent Epidemics of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
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Over 1 million curable STIs are acquired globally each day, most in low-income settings.
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Women bear the heaviest burden: anatomical factors and stigma mean infections like gonorrhea, syphilis, and HPV often go undetected.
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In sub-Saharan Africa, 24% of women have active HPV infections — the leading cause of cervical cancer. In Kenya, cervical cancer kills over 3,200 women annually, despite being largely preventable through vaccination and screening.
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The rise of antimicrobial resistance in gonorrhea threatens to render common treatments ineffective, creating a looming reproductive-health crisis.
The Growing Threat of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
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NCDs now account for nearly 40% of female deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.
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In Kenya, one in three women lives with hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease — yet most are undiagnosed due to weak primary-care systems.
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Women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men, driven by both biological and social determinants.
The Innovation and Leadership Gap
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Less than 2% of global health R&D funding targets conditions that primarily affect women.
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Across the Global South, women make up over 70% of the health workforce but hold less than 25% of leadership positions, limiting their influence on policy and funding priorities.
Financial and Systemic Barriers
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In LMICs, up to 50% of health spending still comes directly from patients’ pockets.
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In Kenya, out-of-pocket costs represent 23% of total health expenditure, forcing women to delay or skip care.
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Donor funding for reproductive health is plateauing, even as domestic financing systems remain fragmented and opaque — leaving essential women’s services underfunded.
Why It Matters
These challenges are not only medical — they are economic and moral. The McKinsey Global Health Institute estimates that closing the women’s health gap could add $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040. Yet the cost of inaction is far greater: generations of women unable to thrive, economies weighed down by preventable illness, and societies deprived of half their potential.
SGHI exists to close this gap — building systems where every woman, from Nairobi to Nanyuki and across the Global South, can access quality, dignified, and affordable healthcare.
What We Do
Transforming Women’s Health Systems in Kenya and Beyond
SGHI works at the intersection of health system reform, technology, and gender equity. Our goal is to ensure that every woman — regardless of income, geography, or age — has access to quality, affordable, and dignified healthcare.
Our Approach
SGHI takes a systems-strengthening approach to women’s health—bridging clinical, financial, and digital innovations to make quality care accessible for every woman, everywhere.
Integrated Care Models
We strengthen primary and community health systems to deliver comprehensive reproductive, maternal, newborn, and non-communicable disease services—linking prevention, treatment, and follow-up through
a continuum-of-care model.
Diagnostics and Innovation
In partnership with global and local innovators, we are piloting women-centered diagnostic solutions—self-testing kits for HPV, rapid point-of-care tools for STIs, and AI-powered telehealth for reproductive and maternal care—to close the diagnostic gap that keeps many conditions hidden.
Digital Public Infrastructure for Health
Building on Kenya’s Digital Superhighway and Social Health Authority reforms, SGHI supports digital platforms that connect financing, service delivery, and patient data. This enables real-time visibility of resources and outcomes—ensuring that funds reach the women they are meant to serve.
Policy and Leadership
SGHI works with governments to advance gender-responsive policies, integrate women’s health into national budgets, and build the next generation of women leaders in health systems.
Health Financing Reform
We champion equitable, gender-responsive financing models—micro-insurance, community health funds, and value-based purchasing—that reduce out-of-pocket spending and expand access for low-income women.
Our Impact Vision
By combining technology, financing innovation, and community engagement, SGHI aims to cut preventable maternal deaths, expand access to affordable diagnostics, and strengthen accountability across Kenya’s health system.
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Our work restores agency to women—empowering them not only as patients but as decision-makers, innovators, and changemakers in shaping Africa’s health future.