Thank you for the warm welcome, @ncbn. It’s exciting to witness Andhra Pradesh’s growth being accelerated through AI, technology, and innovations across health, agriculture & education.
Technology must serve humanity. Our Real Time Governance System (RTGS) is transforming lives across Andhra Pradesh - delivering speed in governance & ease of doing business in real time. Grateful for my 1990s meeting with Mr. Bill Gates, which inspired this tech-driven citizen empowerment. Delighted to showcase our RTGS centre today, powered by brilliant young minds, alongside flagship initiatives in education, agriculture & health! #RTGS #DigitalAP
#APWelcomesBillGates
I’m deeply sad to learn of the passing of Dr. Bill Foege. Bill was a towering figure in global health—a man who saved the lives of literally hundreds of millions of people. He was also a friend and mentor who gave me a deep grounding in the history of global health and inspired me with his conviction that the world could do more to alleviate suffering.
Bill and I often talked together about the future of global health. The legacy of his career is that many of the remarkable developments to come will have his imprint all over them. https://t.co/tDn7YvtkdC
@NickKristof's journalism inspired me to get involved in global health decades ago, and I hope his reporting on the devastating consequences of aid cuts inspires others to act today.
One reason we tolerate the evisceration of USAID is skepticism about aid's effectiveness. Yet aid can and does save lives. As @BillGates notes here, child deaths from diarrhea have fallen 72% since 2000. Diarrhea still kills too many children, but we know to solve these problems, inexpensively. We have the tools, we have the resources, but what's uncertain is whether we have the will. I recommend Bill's essay about saving lives of kids with diarrhea: https://t.co/ypchSoc9d6
Learning how many kids were dying from diarrhea back in 1997—when I never worried about it with my own kids—led me to get involved in global health. https://t.co/NYitqiRY38
Thanks to vaccines, fewer children are dying from preventable diseases around the world. Cutting funding for them would reverse that progress and put millions of children in danger.
An HIV doctor in Africa, whose work depends on USAID and PEPFAR, sends in a dispatch of the bleak situation now unfolding there
https://t.co/Pvo239Fh7u
To me, this is the most remarkable thing about global health: With a relatively small amount of money, you can do a great deal of good for a great many people. This is money well spent, and we should go back to spending it—now.
Health aid is a small piece of America’s foreign aid, which is itself a small piece of the federal budget. In 2023, the US spent less than one percent of the federal budget on lifesaving global health programs: https://t.co/QaTuRs6PQe
According to a @UNAIDS analysis, ending PEPFAR-supported programs for people living with HIV could result in an additional 4.2 million deaths by 2029: https://t.co/YjBtRcxNzH
Since 2000, @gavi has helped get vaccines to 1.1 billion children. The U.S. announced that, after this year, it’s pulling out all its money. If that happens, Gavi estimates that 75 million children will miss vaccinations over the next five years—and of those, 1.2 million children will die.
A study in the Lancet recently looked at the cumulative impact of reductions in American aid. It found that, by 2040, 8 million more children will die before their fifth birthday: https://t.co/HBeCIFXTDY
U.S. global health and development aid is estimated to have saved 92 million lives over the past 20 years. We can't afford to let that kind of progress unravel: https://t.co/eqLEVzB9gA
Happening now at the Senate Approps hearing on rescissions: @SenatorCollins (R-ME) says PEPFAR "remains a bipartisan priority of Congress" and emphasizes that cutting "funding aimed at preventing disease transmission would be extraordinarily ill-advised and short-sighted."
In the last 25 years, @gavi has helped over a billion kids live better, healthier lives. Pulling the organization’s funding would have devastating consequences: more sick kids who fall behind in school, more overcrowded hospital wards, and eventually more grieving parents. I’m urging Congress to rethink this decision, fund Gavi, and help save millions more lives.
Today, world leaders reaffirmed their commitment to protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases, raising $9 billion for @gavi. This reflects strong global confidence in vaccines as one of the most effective investments in global health.
As a founding partner, the @gatesfoundation committed $1.6 billion to support continuing Gavi’s proven impact: 1.1 billion children vaccinated and nearly 19 million deaths averted over the past 25 years.
But Gavi still faces a funding gap—driven in part by the U.S. administration’s intention to withdraw support. If Congress allows this to happen, the consequences will be devastating. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of preventable deaths will occur, especially among mothers and children. Science welcomes scrutiny, but it demands evidence, too. And the science is clear: vaccines save lives. Without continued U.S. support for Gavi, far too many lives will be lost.
When the United States and other governments suddenly cut their aid budgets, I know for a fact that more children will die. Here’s the proof I’m showing Congress. https://t.co/Oa05MTyDoU
It’s always an honor to partner with incredible Nigerian healthcare workers, midwives, researchers, innovators, and changemakers—like @NcpwdOfficial and Wheelchairs for Nigeria's Chief Ayuba Gufwanm, a polio survivor who has spent his life raising awareness, delivering mobility aids, and championing vaccines. People like him make me hopeful that, despite the odds and obstacles, we can #EndPolio for good. Thank you H.E. President @officialABAT for this recognition.
Today, I conferred the Nigerian National Honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on Mr Bill Gates @BillGates in recognition of his decades-long commitment to improving lives through interventions in global health & polio eradication, education, digital innovation, and agricultural development, especially in Nigeria and across Africa.
Bill Gates' contributions have saved millions through the Gates Foundation @gatesfoundation and many such initiatives, uplifted communities, and inspired global action.
We also had meaningful conversations on deepening our collaboration in health systems, innovation, and youth development, reaffirming our shared belief that real progress begins when we invest in people.
Nigeria remains open to ideas, partnerships, and actions that move humanity forward.
~ Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR