New york: The Gates Foundation has announced a commitment of 912 million dollars over the next three years to support the Global Fund’s efforts in combating AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. This pledge aims to encourage governments to make critical decisions impacting millions of lives.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation, highlighted the Global Fund’s effectiveness, noting it has saved over 70 million lives since its inception in 2002. Speaking at the 2025 Goalkeepers event, held alongside the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Gates emphasized that the fund has reduced deaths from these diseases by more than 60 percent while bolstering global health security.
Gates stated that each dollar invested in the Global Fund produces an estimated $19 in health and economic returns. The new pledge increases the foundation’s total commitments to $4.9 billion since 2002, marking it as one of the foundation’s largest investments. He explained that this investment is intended to inspire contributions from governments, philanthropists, and the private sector towards the Fund’s Eighth Replenishment, co-hosted by South Africa and the United Kingdom, which concludes in November.
With millions of lives at stake, Gates stressed that investment levels in the Global Fund over the next three years will be crucial in determining the success in saving lives, reducing the impact of HIV, TB, and malaria, and enhancing global health security. He remarked that current and future generations depend on the world’s generosity and strategic investments to prevent childhood deaths from preventable diseases.
The Goalkeepers event, attended by over 1,000 leaders from various sectors, focused on rekindling a commitment to saving children’s lives. Gates urged leaders to seize this opportunity to eradicate deadly childhood diseases by 2045.
Gates pointed out that many donor countries have reduced global health budgets due to domestic challenges, leading to a 21 percent decline in global development assistance for health between 2024 and 2025, as reported by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). He warned that if these cuts persist, they may reverse progress that has significantly reduced child mortality since 2000.
Despite budget constraints, Gates emphasized a clear roadmap for progress, which includes sustained investments, innovative health solutions, and robust primary healthcare systems. Research by the Gates Foundation and IHME suggests that such investments could further halve child deaths over the next 20 years.
The roadmap advocates for renewed support for initiatives like the Global Fund and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to assist countries in making cost-effective health decisions and transitioning to self-reliance. It also emphasizes the importance of prioritizing primary healthcare, investing in R and D, and leveraging innovations such as new malaria-prevention tools, single-dose malaria treatments, long-acting HIV drugs, maternal vaccines, and AI-driven medicine delivery.