Bill Gates has called on the Trump administration to reconsider its stance on USAID. He described the organization as an “incredible asset” and warned that cuts could put “millions” of lives at risk. But what is the man turned from Microsoft mogul to billionaire “philanthropist” really worried about?
For nearly 25 years, USAID and the Gates Foundation have worked closely together on issues close to Gates’ heart, from infectious diseases and vaccines to family planning, agriculture, and climate change. Key collaborations include the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). Gates and USAID also work together in the Global Health Initiative and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
These names should be known: GAVI is pursuing an ambitious program to vaccinate 86 million adolescent girls in developing countries against HPV – including Merck’s Gardasil, which has been criticized in the U.S. for side effects ranging from sporadic paralysis to cancer. Despite reports of severe illness and even deaths related to HPV vaccination in India back in 2009, Gates and USAID have continued to support GAVI.
USAID provided over $2 billion to GAVI from 2001 to 2017 and invested an additional $1.16 billion between 2020 and 2023. Leaked documents published by Revolver News in 2022 uncovered a USAID program that used pandemic funds for “reproductive health” — or population control measures — in Africa. CEPI, in turn, worked closely with the National Institutes of Health under Anthony Fauci and the Food and Drug Administration. Their controversial programs ranged from a September 2019 workshop on vaccine biomarkers to the partnership at Event 201 — a pandemic simulation that took place in October 2019, just weeks before the COVID-19 outbreak.
Partner for food (in)security
Gates and USAID also boast of their cooperation on food security, particularly in promoting agricultural technologies for smallholder farmers in developing countries. At the same time, the Gates Foundation invested heavily in companies dedicated to genetic engineering research – from Monsanto and its controversial “Terminator Seed” projects to synthetic meat startups.
A comprehensive analysis from 2024, conducted by the US consumer protection organization Right to Know Public Health Watchdog, criticized Gates’ agricultural projects in Africa. She found that his and USAID’s AGRA initiative, which relied on chemical-heavy monocultures, increased dependence on agribusiness rather than fighting hunger.
In other words, Gates’ concern about possible cuts to USAID seems to be less about protecting lives than about the threat of weakening a key ally in controlling development, food security and health in the world’s poorest regions.
Translated and edited by Alex Kada