Thirty years ago, much of Doha was desert coastline. Today, Qatar’s capital is a dense modern landscape of research institutes, hospitals, universities, accelerators and global investment. A far cry from many healthcare environments worldwide, but unexpectedly familiar in its pursuit of rigorous innovation in women’s health.

During a recent panel discussion for the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) FemTech accelerator, I was struck by their approach to advancing women’s health. With priorities shaped by local healthcare needs and a focus on using innovation to strengthen the wider West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region, I felt like I had a glimpse into the emergence of a new model of FemTech.

  • Away from purely reproductive health solutions and towards long-term chronic disease prevention and management
  • Away from a US-/Europe-centric audience, towards more global users and healthcare systems
  • And away from standard startup playbooks towards regional collaboration and implementation-first strategies

Are some of the most important advances in women’s health happening beyond the usual ecosystems?

The Expansion of FemTech

Over the last decade, FemTech has moved from a niche healthcare sector into mainstream clinical, economic and political conversation. The definition of women’s health is also broadening. McKinsey’s 2024 “Closing the Women’s Health Gap” report expanded the conversation beyond reproductive health to include conditions that affect women uniquely, differently or disproportionately. This shift is already influencing investment priorities, including a recent $2.5 billion commitment from the Gates Foundation focused on women’s health.1,2

Yet major gaps remain. A recent WEF analysis found that high-burden conditions affecting women continue to receive disproportionately low levels of funding and attention.³

And this imbalance is not only clinical. It is geographic too.

The vast majority of women-focused program research funding is concentrated in the US and Europe. Beyond these regions, funding is more fragmented and difficult to track, with Africa, Latin America and Asia receiving a marginal share.3

There are early signs this concentration is beginning to shift.

Programs such as the QSTP FemTech Accelerator, UNICEF-backed FemTech Ventures and FemTech Across Borders in Shanghai may signal the early stages of decentralisation within women’s health innovation. These regions represent a large proportion of the global women’s health population and are undergoing rapid digital transformation, creating new opportunities for innovation.

Ecosystems shaped by different disease burdens may prioritise women’s health differently. For example, obesity affects around 46% of women in Qatar, increasing the risk of multiple chronic conditions.⁵ As such, it makes sense that the QSTP FemTech accelerator prioritises chronic health solutions beyond historically limited definitions of women’s health.

A more globally distributed ecosystem may reshape priorities, with local epidemiology increasingly influencing innovation.

Adoption is the New Frontier

Both QSTP and the World Economic Forum highlighted the importance of integrating innovation into healthcare systems.

But how does a high-quality solution actually reach women in an equitable way?

(If you know the answer, then I’d really love to talk!)

As a former clinician, I can see both the value of early-stage innovation and the barriers to routine adoption.

One aspect of the QSTP model that stood out was its focus on implementation from the outset. While ecosystems like Qatar may have advantages that are difficult to replicate elsewhere, the principle remains relevant: adoption should be considered from the beginning, not after a product is built.

But can this approach translate across different healthcare systems?

Dr. Jasmine Fletcher attending a recent women’s health event
Regional Scalability and Access

One aspect that interested me most was the plan to collaborate with partners in Egypt, strengthening the wider WANA region.

QSTP’s ambition to collaborate with partners in Egypt raises an important question: how can successful innovations be adapted across healthcare systems with different populations, priorities and infrastructure?

Because at the end of the day, healthcare is always local.

An innovation can’t just be copied from North Yorkshire (my childhood home) and pasted into London (where I live now). The epidemiology is different. Stakeholders are different. Pathways are different. Adoption relies on trust, cultural acceptance and infrastructure fit.

This is not unique to women’s health, but sectors already facing evidence and funding gaps face an even steeper climb.

This is the challenge founders face when scaling across healthcare systems.

So where does this leave us?

No healthcare system has fully solved these challenges. Even highly integrated ecosystems continue to struggle with procurement, interoperability, regulation and long-term adoption.

But three key shifts stand out:

  1. Women’s health innovation appears to be becoming more globally distributed
  2. Emerging ecosystems may reshape which conditions and populations are prioritised
  3. Implementation and adoption are increasingly important determinants of impact

There is still work to do. But perhaps the next chapter of FemTech will not be defined by those who can generate the most innovation, but by who can successfully integrate innovation into real healthcare systems, across different populations and infrastructure realities.

Because ultimately, the solutions that scale globally will not simply be the most technologically advanced. They will be the ones designed for adoption from the very beginning.

And that may require a fundamentally different model of women’s health innovation than the one we have become used to.

Interested in learning more about QSTP’s FemTech Accelerator and how it supports startups addressing women’s health challenges? Join us and discover how innovation is helping shape the future of healthcare in Qatar and beyond.

#QSTP #FemTech #WomensHealth #HealthTech #Impact #Entrepreneurship #Qatar

References

1. World Economic Forum. 2024. Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies. Available at: https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Closing_the_Women%E2%80%99s_Health_Gap_2024.pdf. Accessed May 2026

2. Gates Foundation. Gates Foundation Announces Catalytic Funding to Spark New Era of Women-Centered Research and Innovation. Available at: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center/press-releases/2025/08/womens-health-funding-commitment. Accessed May 2026

3. World Economic Forum. 2026. The Women’s Health Innovation Radar: Revealing Gaps and Opportunities Across the Science-to-Patient Journey. Available at: https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Womens_Health_Innovation_Radar_2026.pdf. Accessed May 2026

4. Angum F, et al. Cureus. 2020;12(5):e8094

5. Melaky YA, et al. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2025:15598276251405214