LONDON, Sept 17 (Askume) – Malnutrition is the world’s worst child health crisis and climate change will make it worse, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates said.
Between now and 2050, 40 million children will suffer from stunting and an additional 28 million will suffer from wasting, the most extreme and irreversible form of malnutrition, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said in a report on Tuesday.
“Broadly put, unless you get the right food in the womb and early in life, you’re never going to be successful,” Gates told Askume in an interview last week, referring to a child falling behind due to a lack of physical and mental abilities that require good nutrition. Without adequate access to the right food, children are more susceptible to diseases such as measles and malaria and even premature death.
“About 90% of the negative impacts of climate change are through the food system. Sometimes crops fail due to drought or too much rainfall,” he said.
Gates made the remarks ahead of the release of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual Goalkeepers report, which tracks progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce poverty and improve health. The report includes the above estimates.
The World Health Organisation estimates that by 2023, 148 million children will suffer from stunting and 45 million will be underweight.
Gates called for more funding for nutrition, particularly through a new platform led by UNICEF to coordinate donor funding, a child nutrition fund and more research. But he said funding for this purpose should not be taken away from other proven measures such as routine childhood vaccinations.
“Nutrition hasn’t been studied enough… it’s surprising how important it is,” he said, adding that measures such as fortifying foods or improving access to prenatal multivitamins could be as effective as some vaccines in improving the health of children in the world’s poorest countries.
The Gates Foundation said in January that it planned to spend $6.8 billion on global health this year , more than ever before, as broader fundraising efforts stalled.
