Overview
- Bill Gates says under-five deaths rose from 4.6 million in 2024 to 4.8 million in 2025, the first increase in a quarter century.
- He attributes the reversal to sweeping foreign-aid reductions under President Donald Trump, including cost-cutting tied to the Department of Government Efficiency.
- The Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers Report models about 12 to 12.5 million additional child deaths by 2045 if development assistance for health drops 20% from 2024 levels.
- Gates urges restoring government aid and calls on billionaires to increase philanthropy, noting foreign assistance has typically been under 1% of donor GDP.
- He remains cautiously optimistic that AI-driven innovation can help recover progress over time, while warning the next five years will be difficult and pointing to his 2025 pledge to direct roughly $100 billion within a $200 billion, 20-year plan.