Treatment of a boy sick with malaria in Africa
Progress halted: around 4.8 million children will have died before the age of five, 200 thousand more than the 4.6 million registered in 2024. Sudden financial cuts in health support are to blame.
Deaths of children under five will increase for the first time this century at the end of this year, putting an end to a decades-long trajectory of sustained declines in child mortality.
Between 2000 and 2020, the number of children who died before turning five fell by around half: from almost 10 million per year to less than 5 million, according to data cited by . That progress is now at risk.
One from the Gates Foundation estimates that by the end of 2025, about 4.8 million children will have died before the age of five, another 200 thousand than the 4.6 million registered in 2024.
The main reason given is the abrupt reduction in international financing intended for health and development, which will be weakening prevention and treatment programs in countries with more vulnerable health systems.
“When financial support is suddenly withdrawn, it has consequences and, unfortunately, these consequences are measured in human lives,” says Mark Suzman, executive director of the Gates Foundation, to .
From one year to the next, the financing will have fallen from 49 billion dollars to around 36 billion — a reduction of more than 25%. Os USAtraditionally the largest donor of international aid, , but they were not the only country to reduce their contribution. United Kingdom, France and Germany also reduced support.
It is sad to think that many of the deaths in question are the result of preventable or treatable diseaseslike malaria, HIV/AIDS, pneumonia e diarrhea. The Bill Gates foundation report advocates a reinforced commitment to primary care systems and vaccines, as well as solutions that maximize every euro or dollar invested, including vaccines with fewer doses and better use of data to guide interventions.
If the trajectory of cuts continues, the Gates Foundation warns that between 12 million and 16 million more children could die by 2045. Conversely, a return to funding to 2024 levels would allow us to accelerate innovations with the potential to save millions of lives over the next two decades.
