Op-ed: The Trillion-Dollar Opportunity: Turning the Tide on Maternal and Child Health

In an op-ed for India Health Fund, Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO of the Access to Medicine Foundation, outlines why investing in women’s and children’s health in low- and middle-income countries is both a moral imperative and a major economic opportunity.

Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO of the Access to Medicine Foundation, explains how improving access to healthcare products for women and children can deliver benefits across generations. She cites research estimating that closing the women’s health gap could add USD 1 trillion to the global economy each year by 2040.

In the op-ed, Jayasree highlights the scale of the challenge in low- and middle-income countries, where products to manage health conditions and prevent avoidable deaths exist but still need to be scaled up. She notes how persistent gaps in delivery systems and product availability, alongside uneven access to essential healthcare products, continue to drive preventable harm for women and children.

She outlines ways to bridge the gap between innovation and delivery, from initiatives to expand access to diagnostics and treatments to market-shaping tools such as volume guarantees that can support more reliable supply. Jayasree concludes that progress depends on accountability, shared best practices and ensuring existing solutions reach those who need them most.