Seattle’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is in the public health spotlight, thanks to its efforts to head off just the sort of global pandemic we’re now experiencing — but not all the exposure it’s getting is healthy.
In some corners of the online world, the Gates Foundation is painted as a villain, stoking fears and pushing a global vaccination agenda for the sake of “Big Pharma.” Anti-vaccine activists link Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with the World Health Organization and infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci — and not in a good way.
The conspiracy theories have always been there, but Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman acknowledges that they’re getting added traction now, thanks in part to the COVID-19 crisis.
“We’re aware that there’s allegations made in social media and other [channels] about nefarious schemes the foundation is alleged to be part of,” Suzman told GeekWire today, in connection with an announcement that the foundation is allocating $150 million more to fighting the pandemic.
“All I can say is, one, we’re completely transparent about who we are and what we do,” he said. “We are able to talk about any and every investment and grant we make. We’re very transparent about our mission, our values, and we really have nothing to hide.”
And what is that mission? What are those values?
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“We’re about making sure every person on the planet in the United States and around the world … has the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life,” he said. “Every statement we make, every action we take, is toward that end.”
The foundation’s support for research, testing and other public health measures related to the coronavirus outbreak now amounts to more than $250 million, but that’s just the tip of a multibillion-dollar iceberg. Other programs support the development of vaccines for malaria and other infectious diseases, HIV treatments, agricultural innovations, education, nutrition and children’s health.
Online databases that go back to 1994 lay out the Gates Foundation’s grants and funding opportunities, detailing how they mesh with the organization’s mission.
“It’s sort of distressing when people allege that we may be part of something that’s separate from that,” Suzman said. “We really are not. It’s a very simple agenda and mandate, and it’s built on, we hope, a strong track record of transparency and technical expertise that we’ve built up over the years.”
Suzman said the foundation aims to build on that track record as it moves forward on “the really important work, which is tackling this disease, and tackling the wider global health and economic and social challenge the world faces right now.”
The World Health Organization is one of beneficiaries of the foundation’s coronavirus funding: Last month, for instance, WHO received $2.5 million to boost Africa’s emergency preparedness for the outbreak.
This week, President Donald Trump said he planned to halt U.S. funding for WHO, pending a review of the organization’s practices and the information it distributed during the early phases of the outbreak in China. The U.S. previously pledged more than $400 million toward WHO’s annual budget, which amounts to more than $4.8 billion for 2020-2021.
Trump’s statement prompted Bill Gates to tweet that blocking funds for WHO in the midst of a pandemic would be “as dangerous as it sounds,” and Suzman agreed with that assessment.
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“The World Health Organization has its challenges, as any multilateral agency or government does,” Suzman said. “I used to work at the U.N., so I’m well aware of things multilateral agencies do well, or badly. But it does play a critical role at this critical time.”
If the United States drops its support for global health , not even the Gates Foundation can fill the gap — and it’s not just about the money.
“The United States is the largest and strongest contributor to global health efforts worldwide, and has been for the past two decades,” Suzman said. “Whether it’s support for the Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria, support to the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, or support to the WHO, we have partnered and do partner with the U.S. and with many other governments across these efforts. That leadership role has been critical, and really important and deeply valued.”
Suzman said it’s important for the United States to maintain that role.
“We do find it worrying, and as Bill said, potentially dangerous, to try and politicize a discussion that is really about global health and global health needs,” he said. “We cannot address this crisis without thinking about it and tackling it on a global level.”
