NEW YORK CITY: American billionaire and philanthropist, Bill Gates, has sounded the alarm over Nigeria’s rising child mortality rates, particularly in the northern region.
Speaking at a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York on Monday, September 22, 2025, Gates revealed that a child born in northern Nigeria has a 15% chance of dying before the age of five.
He warned that millions of vulnerable children across the globe are at risk of death if governments continue cutting back on health funding. You can either be part of improving that or act like that doesn’t matter, Gates said ahead of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual Goalkeepers event.
Despite shrinking government aid budgets worldwide, the Gates Foundation announced a $912 million contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
Gates emphasized, however, that even his foundation cannot completely offset the scale of government cuts.
I am not capable of making up what the government cuts, and I don’t want to create an illusion of that, he said.
Earlier this year, Gates pledged to give away nearly his entire $200 billion fortune by 2045, speeding up his philanthropic efforts due to urgent global health needs.
The billionaire’s remarks have reignited debate about Nigeria’s health crisis, particularly in the North, where poverty, poor healthcare infrastructure, and malnutrition drive one of the world’s highest child mortality rates.
Health experts have repeatedly called on the Nigerian government and international partners to scale up investments in primary healthcare, vaccination, nutrition, and maternal health if the country hopes to reverse the deadly trend.
