Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Spanish Government Announce $150M For Health Projects In Central America, Mexico

Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Carlos Slim, the “Mexican telecom magnate” and founder of the Carlos Slim Institute, announced Monday that they would work with Spain on a $150 million health initiative for people in Central America and Mexico, Agence France-Presse reports.

“Funds for the ‘2015 Meso-American Health Initiative’ will be shared equally by the three contributors and will go over the next five years to improve maternal health, nutrition, vaccination, anti-dengue and anti-malaria campaigns in the region,” the news service writes (6/14).

Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama will receive funding, BBC reports (6/15). According to Reuters, the program “will target indigenous communities – particularly women and children.”  Reuters adds that the Inter-American Development Bank and local governments will oversee the initiative (Diaz/Rucker, 6/14).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.