Gates warns White House he can't fill shortfalls in US global health funding

[noumoe]

Gates warns White House he can't fill shortfalls in US global health funding

Bill Gates is personally lobbying Trump administration officials to keep funding health programs worldwide, from childhood vaccination to HIV treatment, and warning that his foundation cannot step in to fill gaps, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Gates met with the National Security Council as well as Republican and Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks to press that case, the sources said.

Soon after his January 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, cutting more than 80% of contracts and freezing billions of dollars for everything from emergency food assistance to malaria prevention.

The Trump administration, led by the State Department, is reviewing what kinds of foreign aid will remain under its “America First” policy, with a list of around 30 global health projects for consideration, one of the sources said.

“Bill was recently in Washington D.C. meeting with decision makers to discuss the life-saving impact of U.S. international assistance and the need for a strategic plan to protect the world’s most vulnerable while safeguarding America’s health and security,” said a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation, his charitable organization.

Gates told the officials he met with that his foundation cannot replace the role of the U.S. government, the sources said. Gates Foundation directors have also said publicly that no foundation has that capability.

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