Bill Gates' Annual Letter Leaves Many Worried About Global Backslide
In his latest annual letter, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates expressed optimism about the future despite warning of a concerning trend. The 2025 letter, titled "Optimism with Footnotes," highlights the alarming rise in child mortality rates worldwide.
According to Gates, deaths of children under five years old decreased significantly over the past quarter century, but took a disturbing turn last year, increasing by nearly 50,000 from 4.6 million in 2024 to 4.8 million in 2025. The increase is attributed to reduced aid support from wealthy countries to poorer nations.
Gates has previously spoken out against the destruction of USAID and criticized billionaire Elon Musk for his role in the agency's demise. He emphasized that if progress can be made in restoring aid budgets, humanity may still avoid a global backslide.
However, Gates acknowledges that the next five years will be challenging as efforts to scale up new lifesaving tools are put into action. Despite this, he maintains his long-term optimism about the future, predicting that within the next decade, the world will not only recover but enter an era of unprecedented progress.
A lighter note was injected when Gates recommended watching a heartwarming video of a 13kg deer taking on a 1.7-ton rhino at Wroclaw Zoo in Poland, featuring "Tata" and "Maruska." While the clip may offer some respite from more dire news stories, concerns linger about its authenticity.
As news outlets and online platforms grapple with spreading misinformation, Gates' words serve as a stark reminder of the need for continued vigilance and collective action to address pressing global issues.
In his latest annual letter, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates expressed optimism about the future despite warning of a concerning trend. The 2025 letter, titled "Optimism with Footnotes," highlights the alarming rise in child mortality rates worldwide.
According to Gates, deaths of children under five years old decreased significantly over the past quarter century, but took a disturbing turn last year, increasing by nearly 50,000 from 4.6 million in 2024 to 4.8 million in 2025. The increase is attributed to reduced aid support from wealthy countries to poorer nations.
Gates has previously spoken out against the destruction of USAID and criticized billionaire Elon Musk for his role in the agency's demise. He emphasized that if progress can be made in restoring aid budgets, humanity may still avoid a global backslide.
However, Gates acknowledges that the next five years will be challenging as efforts to scale up new lifesaving tools are put into action. Despite this, he maintains his long-term optimism about the future, predicting that within the next decade, the world will not only recover but enter an era of unprecedented progress.
A lighter note was injected when Gates recommended watching a heartwarming video of a 13kg deer taking on a 1.7-ton rhino at Wroclaw Zoo in Poland, featuring "Tata" and "Maruska." While the clip may offer some respite from more dire news stories, concerns linger about its authenticity.
As news outlets and online platforms grapple with spreading misinformation, Gates' words serve as a stark reminder of the need for continued vigilance and collective action to address pressing global issues.
I'm kinda concerned about this child mortality rate thing... like 50k more deaths in one year is crazy 
. It's all good that Bill Gates is still optimistic, but we need some actual progress here 
. Maybe we can get some wealthy countries to step up and help out poorer nations? 
And what's with the video of the deer vs rhino thing? Is it even real? 
I mean, I love a good animal fight vid as much as the next person, but this is just too much 
. Anyway, let's get serious and tackle those child mortality rates 
the fact that aid support is being cut from poor countries and it's affecting child mortality rates is just insane 
50k more deaths last year alone?! 
what's going on with the world?! and lol why did he include that funny deer vid in his letter btw 
but seriously whats wrong wit us?? we cant even get the basics right its like 50k more deaths worldwide & ppl r still talkin bout tiktoks 
& misinformation 
. And yeah, who wouldn't want to watch a cute deer take on a rhino 
. I remember when Bill Gates was talking about eradicating diseases back in the day, and now we're dealing with this new issue of aid support. it's like we took two steps forward and one step back 
. I hope he's right that we can recover and make progress within the next decade, but for now... ugh 
50k more deaths in just one year is insane! we gotta do something ASAP to help poorer nations 
Gates is right, if we wanna avoid a global backslide, we need to get our aid budgets back on track 
. But at the same time, I have to think about Bill Gates' point and try to stay optimistic... maybe this is our wake-up call to do better 
.
. Bill Gates' optimism is great and all, but we can't afford to get complacent here... we gotta keep pushing for progress 
The world is taking a big step back 
after making so much progress in reducing child mortality rates 
. The fact that rich countries are cutting aid support is making it harder for poor nations to access lifesaving tools 
... will we be able to make progress and turn things around? 
Bill Gates' optimism with footnotes is a breath of fresh air 
. Let's all do our part to keep the momentum going 
at Wroclaw Zoo? 
! 
. Like, how can we expect to make progress when we're just cutting funding for the programs that could actually help? 
... I mean, I'm not sure what's more disturbing, the fact that this is happening or that he has to say it out loud 
. People gotta stay vigilant about fake news and just hope progress happens in next decade 
? I'm like "Bill, dude, we get it, you're worried about child mortality rates... can you just take a selfie with a cute kid instead of lecturing us on Twitter?" 
Who cares about a cute deer's fight when thousands of kids are dying every day?! 
