Gates Foundation to commit $1.6 billion for Gavi vaccine alliance

[erronis]

1. Exclusive: US Health Secretary Kennedy to address Gavi vaccine event amid funding pullback

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-health-secretary-kennedy-address-gavi-vaccine-event-amid-funding-pullback-2025-06-23/

U.S. President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attend a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission event, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

The smirk of entitlement.

LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a long-time vaccine skeptic, is set to speak this week at a fundraising event for Gavi, a public-private partnership which helps buy vaccines for the world's poorest children, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump asked Kennedy to represent the United States at the conference in Brussels on Wednesday, where Gavi will secure funding for its operations for the next five years, one of the sources told Reuters. The Trump administration has previously indicated that it planned to cut its funding for Gavi, representing around $300 million annually.

The source said it was unlikely that Kennedy would commit any new U.S. funding contribution and would most likely discuss "the restructuring of foreign assistance."

Trump has cut foreign aid programmes by around 80% since taking office at the beginning of this year, as part of his "America First" policy agenda.