Chukwu Obinna 
Bill Gates
ABUJA, Nigeria – One in every seven children born in northern Nigeria today will not live to see their fifth birthday, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned on Monday, citing shrinking global health aid as a looming catastrophe.
Speaking at a Reuters event in Manhattan, Gates called the situation “worse than most people realise,” while announcing a $912 million pledge from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
He said the donation was an urgent response to drastic funding cuts, particularly from the United States.
According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, worldwide development assistance dropped by 21 per cent over the past year—the sharpest fall in 15 years.
“I am not capable of making up what the government cuts, and I don’t want to create an illusion of that,” Gates admitted, noting the limits of private philanthropy in replacing government contributions.
Since 2000, global health investments have halved child mortality rates, saving about five million young lives annually. Experts now warn those hard-won gains could be reversed, with northern Nigeria facing the greatest toll.
Gates, however, voiced cautious optimism, pointing to breakthroughs in vaccines and extended-release HIV prevention. “The health of the world’s children is at greater risk than most people imagine,” he said, “but our long-term prospects are better than most people can believe.”
1 in 7 Nigerian Children Risk Death Before Age Five – Gates
About the Author
Mirian Gom 
Hussaini Ibrahim 
