Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Bill Gates donates pounds 460m for vaccines

Gary Finn
Tuesday 23 November 1999 19:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

THE BIGGEST charity donation yet by Bill Gates, the boss of Microsoft, was announced yesterday. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it will give $750m (pounds 460m) over five years to help vaccinate children in developing countries against killer diseases.

The donation to the Global Fund for Children's Vaccines is the largest ever by the foundation. The fund will work with Unicef, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation and pharmaceutical companies to buy vaccines and encourage governments to boost immunisation programmes.

"There are existing vaccines which, if distributed properly, could save three to four million children's lives a year," said James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank.

The foundation gave $100m last year to help speed vaccines to children in poor countries, focusing on respiratory and liver diseases and diarrhoea.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in