The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in its latest Goalkeepers report, has summoned world leaders to invest significantly into global health, especially in child health and nutrition, as climate change threatens to worsen malnutrition worldwide.
The foundation’s eighth annual Goalkeepers report, titled “A Race to Nourish a Warming World,” released on Tuesday, warns that without immediate global action, an additional 40 million children will face stunting and 28 million will experience wasting by 2050 due to climate change.
Stating stunting and wasting, are the most severe forms of malnutrition.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2023, 148 million children were stunted, and 45 million suffered from wasting. Both conditions lead to long-term physical and cognitive impairments.
The report highlights that Africa is particularly vulnerable. Despite being home to over half of the world’s child deaths, the share of foreign aid allocated to the continent has fallen sharply, from 40% in 2010 to 25% today.
Co-chair Bill Gates stressed that malnutrition, now exacerbated by climate change, is the worst child health crisis.
He, however, urged governments to prioritize global health funding, especially through platforms like the Child Nutrition Fund and institutions like Gavi and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which are crucial in saving lives.
Gates emphasized that addressing malnutrition not only saves lives but also boosts economic productivity and resilience to climate change.
Proposing solutions to include scaling up new agricultural technologies and fortifying staple foods to prevent stunting and anemia.
Gates also pointed to promising research into gut health and prenatal supplements that could improve child and maternal outcomes, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
The Goalkeepers report tracks progress on key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations to address global challenges by 2030.
