Bill Gates criticized the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development as a “giant mistake” that contributed to a rise in child deaths for the first time in decades, according to a report released Thursday by the Gates Foundation.
Key data
The report found that around 200,000 more children under five could die this year than in 2024, according to the Gates Foundation’s annual Goalkeepers Report, which assesses progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Gates told the Wall Street Journal that the increase is linked to a 27% cut in global health aid from donors and wealthy nations, including the United States, which closed USAID as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping government staff cuts this year.
The Microsoft co-founder has warned for months that the cuts would likely lead to more child deaths, writing in X in July: “The devastating effects of these cuts are entirely preventable and it is not too late to reverse them.”
Gates warned that it will take years to make up for the lost funding, telling the Journal: “I think we’re going to have a very difficult five years in which, at best, we’ll be able to stabilize deaths.”
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Crucial ideals
“I think it was a gigantic mistake, and that’s partly why we’ve had the turmoil and the increase in deaths this year,” Gates said, referring to the changes at USAID.
Contra
A White House spokesperson told the Journal, when asked about Gates’ findings and his criticism of USAID cuts, that “the Trump administration is ensuring that all programs funded by American taxpayers align with American interests…partner countries want to be self-sufficient in addressing the needs of their people.”
big number
4.8 million. That is the number of children under five who could die this year due to lack of access to healthcare, according to the Goalkeepers Report.
Key background
Trump issued an executive order on his inauguration day in January to freeze all foreign aid pending a 90-day review and subsequently shut down USAID for months prior. Thousands of employees were laid off, 80% of USAID programs were canceled and its website was shut down following the agency’s incorporation into the State Department. USAID was the world’s largest foreign aid agency, providing humanitarian assistance to developing countries since its creation in 1961.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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