Gates pledges $750m to Global Fund Bill Gates, the philanthropist and Microsoft chairman, has signalled renewed support for the world's leading multilateral health funding agency with an unusually-structured $750m donation to accelerate programmes to tackle lethal infectious diseases among the poor. The Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria will receive the money within five years, but with the option to draw on the total amount immediately to cover temporary shortfalls in cash from its other donors, most of whom are industrialised nations" official development agencies. The support marks an important fresh sign of confidence in the agency, a Swiss foundation which has disbursed $15bn since its creation a decade ago but was restructured this week after struggling in recent months amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement, at a time of slowed donations following sluggish economic growth. Michel Kazatchkine, the fund's director, will leave his post as director more than two years early as part of the reorganisation. "These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world's poorest," Mr Gates said in a statement. The Global Fund is one of the most effective ways we invest our money every year. By supporting the Global Fund, we can help to change the fortunes of the poorest countries in the world. I can't think of more important work. His $750m "promissory note" - more than doubling the $650m he has contributed in the past - is designed to meet gaps, often lasting several months, between pledges made by donors and their actual cash payments to the Global Fund. These, in turn, delay disbursements to lower and middle-income recipient countries. The guarantee marks a fresh step by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to leverage its $37bn endowment to help support its philanthropic objectives, and follows other pledges to underwrite large-scale purchases of vaccines before other donors contributed cash. The Global Fund currently has more than $4bn in the bank and $29bn in total pledges, but under the funding policy that guides its operations, it cannot disburse any new money to the multi-year grants it has approved until it receives the full amount from donors. A proportion of its existing cash is disbursed over the two or three year periods of its grants every few months, as recipient countries meet the performance targets triggering the next phase of support. Until the recent fall in returns, investment income from the surplus cash was sufficient to cover the agency's operating costs. Mr Gates" money will help accelerate a number of programmes which were gaining momentum just as government donors began to cut back on funding. That has triggered concerns that recent progress in reducing the impact of HIV, TB and malaria will rapidly backslide. Simon Bland, chairman of the Global Fund board and a UK government representative, said: "Millions of lives depend on a predictable stream of funding from the Global Fund. This promissory note gives the Global Fund the flexibility and authority to distribute funds efficiently based on immediate needs. Saudi Arabia recently made a contribution to the fund, and Brazil has followed Russia's lead among emerging nations in saying it needed no further support for some health programmes. Reviews currently underway are designed to ensure future disbursements focus support to programmes in countries with greatest need and to programmes with the greatest burden and highest returns.