A child born in northern Nigeria has a 15 percent chance of dying before the age of five, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates warned as he raised concern over cuts in global health funding.
Speaking at a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York, Gates said the world was “at a crossroads” with millions of children’s lives at stake if financial support continues to drop.
“You can either be part of improving that or act like that doesn’t matter,” he said ahead of his foundation’s annual Goalkeepers event in New York.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $912 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. But Gates explained that the amount would not replace the large shortfalls left by governments pulling back on aid.
“I am not capable of making up what the government cuts, and I don’t want to create an illusion of that,” he said.
His foundation, created in 2000, is one of the biggest backers of global health, focusing on ending preventable deaths of mothers and babies, fighting infectious diseases, and reducing poverty. Earlier this year, Gates announced he would give away almost all of his $200 billion fortune by 2045, saying the urgency of global needs forced him to speed up the timeline.
Figures from the U.S.-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show global development assistance fell by 21 percent between 2024 and 2025, reaching the lowest level in 15 years. Gates warned that if this trend continues, hard-won progress in child survival could be lost.
Since 2000, improved healthcare has cut child deaths by half worldwide, saving about five million lives every year. Gates noted that with steady funding, more lives can still be saved, and some of the deadliest childhood diseases can be ended by the time his wealth is fully donated in 2045.
He pointed to new innovations like the long-acting HIV prevention drug lenacapavir and the role of institutions like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, as key to reducing child mortality.
“What’s happening to the health of the world’s children is worse than most people realise, but our long-term prospects are better than most people can imagine,” Gates said.
While many countries have slashed donations, Spain increased its support to the Global Fund by 12 percent this year and raised its contribution to Gavi by 30 percent.
