Learning how many kids were dying from diarrhea back in 1997—when I never worried about it with my own kids—led me to get involved in global health.

Thanks to vaccines, fewer children are dying from preventable diseases around the world. Cutting funding for them would reverse that progress and put millions of children in danger.

The devastating effects of these cuts are entirely preventable—and it’s not too late to reverse them.

To me, this is the most remarkable thing about global health: With a relatively small amount of money, you can do a great deal of good for a great many people. This is money well spent, and we should go back to spending it—now.

Health aid is a small piece of America’s foreign aid, which is itself a small piece of the federal budget. In 2023, the US spent less than one percent of the federal budget on lifesaving global health programs:

According to a @UNAIDS analysis, ending PEPFAR-supported programs for people living with HIV could result in an additional 4.2 million deaths by 2029:

Since 2000, @gavi has helped get vaccines to 1.1 billion children. The U.S. announced that, after this year, it’s pulling out all its money. If that happens, Gavi estimates that 75 million children will miss vaccinations over the next five years—and of those, 1.2 million children

A study in the Lancet recently looked at the cumulative impact of reductions in American aid. It found that, by 2040, 8 million more children will die before their fifth birthday:

The facts are simple and devastating: Aid cuts have already cost lives, and the number of deaths will continue to rise. Here’s the evidence.

U.S. global health and development aid is estimated to have saved 92 million lives over the past 20 years. We can't afford to let that kind of progress unravel:

There’s never been a point in the past 25 years when more lives hung in the balance.

It's not too late to change course.

In the last 25 years, @gavi has helped over a billion kids live better, healthier lives. Pulling the organization’s funding would have devastating consequences: more sick kids who fall behind in school, more overcrowded hospital wards, and eventually more grieving parents. I’m.

Health aid works.

When the United States and other governments suddenly cut their aid budgets, I know for a fact that more children will die. Here’s the proof I’m showing Congress.

It’s always an honor to partner with incredible Nigerian healthcare workers, midwives, researchers, innovators, and changemakers—like @NcpwdOfficial and Wheelchairs for Nigeria's Chief Ayuba Gufwanm, a polio survivor who has spent his life raising awareness, delivering mobility.

Thank you for the warm welcome and honor, Prime Minister @AbiyAhmedAli, @PMEthiopia. The @GatesFoundation has partnered with Ethiopia for over two decades—and our commitment to driving progress across the country is as strong as ever.

A big step forward in the fight against Alzheimer’s: The FDA approved the first blood test to help diagnose the disease. Breakthroughs like this will make earlier, easier diagnosis possible—bringing us closer to better treatments and, someday, a cure.

The last 25 years have shown us what’s possible. The next 25 will depend on whether the world keeps showing up for the children who need it most:

We have an opportunity to save more lives around the world than ever before—and I want to do even more to help. That's why I'm giving away virtually all of my wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years.