Urgent Action Needed As Child Deaths Projected To Rise Globally: Gates Foundation Report

India is poised to spearhead the next wave of affordable diagnostics and medical devices, building on its vaccine dominance and emerging innovation ecosystem, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said, warning that the world is entering the first year of rising child deaths this century.

Speaking to PTI on the occasion of the release of the 2025 Goalkeepers Report, Suzman said India's strengths in high-quality, low-cost manufacturing had already transformed global immunisation and were now setting the stage for similar breakthroughs in diagnostic tools, including AI-enabled antenatal testing devices and a new tuberculosis test expected to cost under USD 2.

"India has potential to follow the model of the vaccine industry and become a true global leader and global supplier," he said.

The report projects that global under-five deaths will rise from 4.6 million in 2024 to 4.8 million in 2025, which is the first increase since 2000, reversing decades of progress.

It warns that a 20 per cent cut in global health assistance could lead to 12 million additional child deaths by 2045, rising to 16 million if cuts deepen to 30 per cent.

Suzman said these reversals would hit Africa hardest, while India, backed by long-term investments in primary health care, Mission Indradhanush and health-and-wellness centres, would likely continue reducing child mortality.

India's progress, he said, had turned it from a recipient to a contributor in global health, pointing to the government's USD 30 million pledge to the Global Fund this year, which is a 25 per cent increase.

"India has important lessons for the rest of the world," he added, noting improvements even in historically lagging states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The Goalkeepers Report highlights India's vaccination gains, including 94 per cent pentavalent vaccine coverage in 2024 and the impact of low-cost Indian-made vaccines, such as the USD 2 pneumococcal vaccine and the USD 1 rotavirus vaccine, which have enabled widespread introduction of vaccines across Africa and Asia.

It stresses that routine immunisation remains "the best buy in global health," returning USD 54 for every dollar spent.

Suzman said challenges remain in maternal and newborn care, nutrition and further boosting vaccination rates.

The report echoes this, noting that nearly half of all global child deaths occur in the first month of life and calling for accelerated maternal vaccines against RSV and Group B streptococcus.

He added that India's digital health push, including electronic health records under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission and the country's upcoming global AI summit, could help drive faster gains.

He also pointed to a rapidly expanding philanthropic ecosystem in India, saying partners such as Nandan Nilekani, Ajay Piramal and the Ambani family are helping drive risk-taking and innovation in health. "Philanthropy can take risks that government often can't," he said.

The Goalkeepers Report calls for urgent action to prevent the projected reversal in global child survival, warning: "We can't stop at almost."

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