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Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has warned that his foundation will not plug gaps left by rich nations’ cuts to global vaccination funding, on the eve of a crucial pledging event.
The Gavi international vaccine alliance aims to raise $9bn — including to inoculate half a billion more children over five years — but faces a sharp drop in finance from its two biggest donors, the US and UK.
The Gates Foundation will announce ahead of the Gavi fundraising in Brussels on Wednesday that it will match — but not go beyond — the $1.6bn it’s giving during the organisation’s current funding cycle.
“We decided . . . we’re going to kind of send both messages,” Gates told the Financial Times. “That we’re not a substitute — but this is the best buy in global health. Even people who are cutting should prioritise Gavi as some portion of their budget.”
Gates’ comments highlight a threatened crisis in international disease prevention efforts as western countries slash aid budgets. Experts warn that alternative sources of funding, such as philanthropists and the private sector, cannot — or will not — fill the void.
Gates said he had been in talks with US Congress members about the “great tragedy” of abrupt international health funding cuts that had resulted in “a lot of deaths”.
“For the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid,” said Gates, contrasting the situation with the more than 50 per cent fall in mortality of children under 5 since 1990. “That is a tragedy. Fully funding Gavi is the single most powerful step we can take to stop it.”
Gavi faces a tough battle to win the funding it wants. The US, UK and Gates Foundation between them accounted for just over half the total $42.9bn pledges made to Gavi from its creation in 2000 through to 2023.
The Trump administration’s proposed budget for next year makes no provision for Gavi. The UK has vowed to remain a “leading investor” in the organisation despite a 40 per cut to its international aid budget as a share of national income.
If the UK and US contributions were to fall below $1.6bn, then the Gates Foundation would be Gavi’s largest donor. It is already set to become the biggest funder of the World Health Organization after President Donald Trump gave notice in January that the US would pull out of the UN body.
It would be “a strange world where a single individual is a bigger giver to the WHO and Gavi than every other country in the world”, Gates said, speaking before the UK pledge announcement expected on Wednesday. “That is a very strange thing.”
Gavi has helped countries immunise more than 1bn children against dangerous diseases, as well as co-ordinating vaccine supplies for other campaigns and crisis responses such as for Covid-19, Ebola and mpox. Gavi-sourced jabs target threats including measles, meningitis A and the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer.
Gavi has responded to the harsher funding climate by attempting to widen its donor base and offer more flexible financing options. The organisation has attracted first-time givers such as Indonesia and Croatia and widened use of “vaccine bonds” that allow countries to pay gradually rather than up front.
Indonesia is one of 19 countries that previously received Gavi support but no longer do because they have hit certain national income benchmarks. Gavi’s supporters argue this shows donors get value for money, while better public health has wider benefits such as boosting countries’ economies.
Gavi has been pressing for a strong turnout in Brussels despite the “incredibly challenging period globally” said Marie-Ange Saraka-Yao, who has been leading the organisation’s fundraising effort. The event in the Belgian capital is co-hosted by the European Union and the Gates Foundation.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said last month the bloc was looking at “the impacts of USAID withdrawal from the development aid and where we can come in”.
She emphasised that “we cannot fill the void that the US is leaving behind totally”.
