Gates Foundation pledges $540 million to expand global health data research
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has granted $540 million over ten years to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation to broaden its health-data studies worldwide.
Facing ongoing cuts to federal research budgets, wealthy philanthropists are filling the gap, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has unveiled a $540 million, ten-year grant to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The donation will expand the institute’s Global Burden of Disease project, raising the number of regions covered from roughly 925 to almost 5,000, and make health data more accessible to governments and leaders worldwide.
Director Christopher J.L. Murray said the boost will help deliver high-quality, local-level evidence to guide early health-crisis responses. This support builds on a relationship that started with the foundation’s seed funding for the institute in 2007.
The announcement follows an external review of the foundation’s past interactions with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, which found no proof of financial ties or knowledge of criminal activity. The grant aligns with the foundation’s accelerated giving plan as it prepares to wind down operations by 2045, focusing on ending preventable maternal and child deaths and eradicating infectious diseases.
Why it matters
The funding will dramatically improve global health data, helping leaders act faster on health crises as federal research money declines.
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