Gates Foundation pledges $200m to family planning, health solutions

As part of its efforts to help achieve universal access to family planning products and information, faster delivery of lifesaving health solutions, and a reduction in maternal and child mortality, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has pledged commitments totalling $200 million.

The Foundation made the announcement on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 during the annual Goalkeepers events held in New York.

The fund was a response to an alarming reversal in progress on Global Goal 3 (Good health and wellbeing).

“Halfway to the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, our annual Goalkeepers Report shows that on 18 indicators – from poverty to gender equality, education to food security, health to climate – the world is off track,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation.

“But we also see where innovation, investment, and the extraordinary work of passionate changemakers around the world have the potential to turn the tide, saving the lives of 2 million mothers and babies by 2030.”

The commitments are in two-folds of $100 million each.

The first leg is a long-term commitment of up to $100 million to help meet the demand in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for family planning supplies.

The Foundation states that the funding will go to the UNFPA Supplies Partnership to ensure more women in LMICs are able to access the contraceptives they need and want at a price they can afford.

It states: “Contraceptives are critical building blocks of women’s power and can accelerate progress toward nearly every SDG – whether that’s ending poverty or improving global health.

“This commitment comes at a time when the global funding gap for contraceptives is growing, with the potential to cumulatively reach $1 billion by 2030 if we do not preserve funding and bring in additional support, including through sustainable financing approaches.”

The second leg is the long-term commitment of $100 million to bring faster access to health products in low- and middle-income countries.

This funding, the Foundation states, will go to Unitaid, doubling the foundation’s previous commitment, to support its work to accelerate the introduction and delivery of new lifesaving solutions at equitable scale, including those for maternal and newborn health.

Unitaid’s unique approach helps reach the health-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals more quickly. Its previous work unlocked access to more than 100 groundbreaking health products, including those for HIV, TB, and malaria; women’s and children’s health; and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

The event besides the Goalkeepers Awards also featured series of discourses on current and future efforts to achieve the Global Goals through concrete action and new approaches to development finance.

Participants included Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, President William Ruto of Kenya, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and more than 400 young changemakers from around the world.

The Star