Billionaire Bill Gates, who has promised to donate large parts of his wealth to global health, is critical of the fact that aid is increasingly linked to national interests.
In this year's budget proposal, no special Swedish funds are mentioned for the Global Fund – an organization that fights AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
I regret that. We hope that Sweden will maintain or increase support for the Global Fund and (vaccine alliance) Gavi, says Gates in an interview with Dagens industri.
Must prioritize
Minister for Development Cooperation Benjamin Dousa (The Moderate Party) defends the re-prioritization by saying that more resources are now needed at home.
It's easy for one of the world's richest people to say, but we must prioritize. Crime must be combated, families must be able to keep more of their own money, and defense must be strengthened because Russia poses a serious threat to Sweden. We are not an ATM, but we take care of taxpayers' money, he says to TT.
In Di, Gates says that he thinks it's a mistake that aid is being pushed aside when defense allocations are growing and that it's an issue that should be debated more.
Is that what people want to see and is it really necessary?
Supports Gavi
Benjamin Dousa says that he is happy to take that debate, but feels that the support for the made priorities is strong.
It's easy to say for someone who can jump on their private jet and go somewhere else, but we do this because we need to be able to defend our country with force if necessary. If we don't want our children to speak Russian in the future, we need to have a very strong defense.
And one should remember that we also next year remain one of the world's most generous aid donors, he adds.
A final decision on Sweden's support for the Global Fund and Gavi is expected only in the Sida regulation letter for 2026.
Gavi is one of the most effective tools that exist globally to reduce mortality, so we will particularly defend the fantastic vaccination programs that Gavi manages to roll out, says Benjamin Dousa.
