Gates Package — page 1091

In my foundation work, I often advocate for increasing health aid to developing countries. Most people don't follow this subject, and they're surprised when they learn how little funding is involved. If you added up all the money from governments, foundations, and other donors that helps low- and middle-income countries improve the health of their people, what would it amount to? We're counting everything: money for COVID, malaria, HIV/AIDS, child and maternal health, mental health, obesity, cancer, smoking, and so on. In 2019, the answer would've been $40 billion a year--that was the annual total of what's called development assistance for health.21 In 2020, when rich governments stepped up generously to deal with COVID, the answer was $55 billion. (As I write this, the number for 2021 isn't available yet, but I anticipate . . . [Foundation team: do you think DAH will be roughly the same?].) Whether $55 billion a year strikes you as a lot of money for global health depends on the context. It amounts to roughly .005 percent of the world's annual economic output. People spend almost that much on perfume every year.22 Of that $55 billion annual figure, the United States contributes about $7.9 billion a year. That's less than 0.2 percent of the federal government's budget. If you're a citizen in a donor country, you can feel good about the impact of this spending. The bang for your buck is tremendous. Remember the 20-10-5 story from a few pages ago? That's what this money is paying for. This pie chart shows how many children died in 1990, and what they died from: [chart]