THE UNITED STATES’ controversial health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. has reportedly told a global health summit in Brussels that the US will be pulling its funding from Vaccine Alliance Gavi until the global health organisation has “re-earned the public trust”.

At the same summit, Taoiseach Micheál Martin pledged almost €22m in funding on behalf of Ireland.

Martin joined world leaders at today’s Global Summit for Health and Prosperity through Immunisation, which was co-hosted by the European Union, the Gates Foundation, and Gavi. 

Martin announced a 20% bump in Irish funding to Gavi for the period of 2026-2030. The funding now equals €21.6m.

At the same summit, however, RFK Jr. reportedly delivered “an inflammatory video speech”, according to Politico, in which the health secretary accused Gavi of neglecting vaccine safety, making questionable recommendations around Covid-19 vaccines and silencing dissenting views.

RFK Jr. has denied in the past that he is an opponent of vaccines, but has been criticised for spreading misinformation regarding them – such as his claim that autism comes from vaccines, which has been disproven.

He then called on Gavi to “re-earn the public trust” and “justify” the $8 billion in funding provided by America since 2001.

The summit today aimed to raise at least $9 billion to support Gavi’s work, which includes immunising the world’s poorest children and advancing global health security. The organisation has a stated goal of immunising another 500m children over the 2026-2030 period and save over 8m lives.

In advance of the summit, the Taoiseach met with Chair of the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates.

The two were to discuss “a shared commitment to development cooperation and alignment of priorities on gender equality, agriculture, nutrition and global health, including vaccinations”.