Bill Gates' philanthropy powerhouse looks East: What to know about the Gates Foundation

Tatler Asia

09-05-2025

Core initiatives with global impact
The foundation lists four major areas of impact, each tackling specific development goals. Global Health
2023 Funding: US$1.86 billion
The foundation is primarily known worldwide for its initiatives in global health, which focus on eradicating infectious diseases and improving healthcare access in low-income countries. So far the collective efforts helped along by the foundation has had major impacts: the Gates Foundation reports, among other things, a 99 per cent drop in global polio cases since its Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988. The foundation is also working to eradicate polio, and reports that over 2.2 billion cases of malaria has been prevented since 2000, saving 12.7 million lives. There foundation also spearheads major efforts against HIV and tuberculosis. Global Development
Because 'disease, conflict and suffering thrive on poverty', the foundation's global development programs target poverty by creating 'virtuous cycles' of opportunities for people, communities and countries that lead to prosperity and well-being. Under this broad scope, the organisation has initiatives in agriculture, digital connectivity and infrastructure, economic opportunity, education, inclusive financial systems and other areas. Gender Equality
The foundation supports initiatives that help women and girls lead healthier, more empowered lives, particularly across Africa and South Asia—'Because when women and girls have the power to choose their own destinies, the whole world is better off.' Education
Though primarily focused in the United States, the foundation also supports education initiatives around the world, particularly those for primary school students in sub-Saharan Africa and India.
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Despite its enormous reach and record of measurable impact, the Gates Foundation has not been without controversy. Critics have raised concerns over its outsize influence on global health policy, with some questioning whether a single private entity—no matter how well-intentioned—should wield such power in shaping international priorities.
Others have argued that the foundation's focus on technology-led 'quick wins' can sometimes overlook the deeper structural reforms needed to create sustainable change. In response, the foundation has acknowledged the need to work more closely with local partners and ensure that its interventions are culturally attuned and community-led. However, the Singapore office is expected to serve as a model for this more decentralised, collaborative approach, helping the foundation evolve in both form and philosophy as it enters its final two decades. Why Asia, and why Singapore?
The decision to launch an Asia hub in Singapore is both strategic and symbolic. As the first Gates Foundation office in Southeast Asia, the new hub in Singapore gives the foundation access to both philanthropists and to beneficiaries around the region. Furthermore, Singapore is positioned as a regional centre for biomedical innovations, and will also offer access to leading research institutions, international NGOs, and government health agencies.
Bill Gates announced the news during a plenary discussion earlier this month with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2025, saying, 'The Gates Foundation is putting an office here in Singapore to access the science, to partner with the philanthropic community; to partner with philanthropists; to partner with the research being done here.'
The new office is expected to play a critical role in forging deeper partnerships with Asian governments, catalysing local philanthropy and co-developing region-specific solutions to pressing health and development challenges. From supporting maternal health and infectious disease control to improving supply chains for vaccines and medical tools, the Singapore base will be pivotal to the foundation's ability to tailor interventions for Southeast Asia's diverse contexts. It also signals a growing intent to engage with the region not just as a recipient of aid—but as a vital collaborator. Vision 2045: Urgency before sunset
Time is now a key driver of the foundation's ambition. With the clock ticking toward its self-imposed 2045 sunset, the Gates Foundation has set out clear priorities in its last twenty years end preventable deaths of mothers, children, and babies, halving the global under-five mortality rate, which currently hovers around five million annually. Second, it seeks to eliminate deadly infectious diseases, including the near-term eradication of polio and Guinea worm, while driving long-term efforts against malaria, measles, HIV, and tuberculosis. Finally, the foundation hopes to lift millions out of poverty through interventions in health, education, and agriculture. To meet these goals, the foundation is investing in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence while strengthening its on-the-ground presence through new regional hubs like Singapore.
The Gates Foundation's expansion into Singapore marks not just a geographic pivot, but a philosophical one. It reflects a broader commitment to proximity, partnership, and urgency at a time when global health systems are under pressure from climate change, economic inequality and pandemic threats.
With more than US$200 billion set to be deployed by 2045, the foundation's legacy will be measured not just in money spent, but in the institutions it strengthens, the innovations it seeds, and the lives it helps transform. Whether it can deliver on such lofty goals within a compressed timeline remains to be seen, but with Asia now a central focus, the foundation is making a clear bet: that the next breakthroughs in global health may well begin here.
Credits
This article was created with the assistance of AI tools