BUSINESSMAN AND PHILANTHROPIST Bill Gates has told MEPs that it is up to Europe to fulfil the US’ failures in providing aid to the developing world.

Speaking in Brussels this evening, he said the poverty, hunger and poor access to services are man-made issues which must be addressed immediately, as deaths among children facing these issues are increasing.

Gates, the billionaire owner and founder of Microsoft, said that the abruptness and scale of changes in the US’ humanitarian aid policy has already been felt by those on the ground.

“Of course, my country, the United States, has made the biggest cuts. But the United States is not alone,” he said, estimating that roughly €30bn has been cut from humanitarian operations globally this year.

He said virtually no tuberculosis treatment operations are running in areas such as Ethiopia and Nigeria. Gates added that malaria bed nets and other supplies were dwindling or impacted by supply chain issues.

On 24 January, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent an internal memo vowing an “America First” policy of tightly restricting assistance overseas.

Gates told MEPs from the European Parliament’s Development Committee this evening that sicknesses such as malnutrition and HIV are increasing.

“We also see that the risk of a pandemic is greater when we allow these developing countries’ health systems to break down,” Gates said. “The monitoring of avian flu and Ebola, many of those people have now been let go.”

He added: “I believe we should do everything we can to mitigate this. To drive innovation and, over time, recommit to these areas so that we can get back to the improvements that we’ve seen over the next 25 years.”

Speaking at the event, Fianna Fáil MEP and chair of the committee Barry Andrews said that Gates has completed “remarkable” work. He described the shortages in funding for development as a global challenge.