Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates did not mince words when commenting on the impact that sweeping cuts imposed by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency would have on global health, telling the Financial Times, "The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one."
Gates' concerns stem from DOGE's drastic and sudden dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has left global health systems reeling when it comes to preventing and treating diseases like malaria, a disease that kills roughly 600,000 people per year, according to the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted that 76% of those deaths are in children under 5.
While it may sound like something from the past to many Americans, malaria has actually become a bigger problem in many parts of the world in recent years as rising global temperatures and heavy rainfalls have expanded the time of year and the damp settings in which mosquitoes thrive and breed.
Thus, the cuts to global health funding come at a time when rising temperatures are influencing the spread of this and other diseases, with some of the world's most vulnerable people being impacted by both changing weather patterns and growing health threats simultaneously.
"Populations in situations of vulnerability in Africa are particularly affected by the most severe impacts of climate change, and many of these same communities are at high risk of contracting malaria," warned the WHO World Malaria Report 2024.
The effects of cuts to U.S. government funding are already being felt, particularly in Africa, where the WHO says 95% of malaria deaths occur. In Kenya, a program to prevent the spread of malaria by conducting indoor spraying during the rainy season has been canceled after U.S. funding was withdrawn, according to Context News. Malaria prevention and treatment programs from Kenya to Mozambique have been either cut completely or severely scaled back just in time for the region's rainy season, when prevention efforts typically kick into high gear.
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Cuts made to such programs will have both immediate and long-lasting ramifications. Malaria cases are already on the rise in places such as Uganda, and once these trends start, they can take years or even decades to rein back in.
"History has shown us what happens if we let our guard down against malaria," said Daniel Ngamije, director of the WHO World Malaria Program, according to Context News. "In 1969, the global eradication effort was abandoned, triggering a resurgence in cases and deaths. It took nearly 30 years for world leaders to come together and restore momentum."
And with breakthroughs in vaccines and antimalarials sitting right at the threshold, cuts to research now have the potential to cost scores of infections in the future.
Malaria treatment, prevention, and eradication form a pillar of the Gates Foundation, focused on global health. Gates himself has just announced a new commitment to spend down $200 billion before dissolving the foundation in 20 years.
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