Whose Foundation Leads Global Health Efforts?

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000 by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife Melinda, is the largest private foundation in the world with an endowment exceeding $67 billion. It has become one of the most influential forces in global public health, investing heavily in vaccine development, malaria prevention, polio eradication, sanitation, and nutrition. The foundation was a key funder of the GAVI Alliance, which has immunised over 1 billion children, and contributed significantly to COVID-19 vaccine access through COVAX. It also supports education reform in the United States and agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.