Mark Suzman, Gates Foundation: Countries should be embarrassed
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 12 April 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“The fact that we are now the world's largest funder of the World Health Organisation should be a major embarrassment to every country on this planet.”
Sam Fenwick speaks to Mark Suzman, CEO of Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropic organisation, about why he thinks cuts to global aid spending is costing lives.
He says the Foundation has overtaken world governments to become the largest financial backer of the WHO. Last year, the United States scaled back parts of its overseas aid budget. It wasn’t the only county to do so, with many governments including the UK, Germany, France and Japan all spending less.
For an institution with little democratic accountability, Mark Suzman is asked whether there is too much reliance on the Gates Foundation globally and whether its priorities are the right ones.
Thank you to the Business Daily team for its help in making this programme.
This interview was recorded on 29 January 2026. This is not mentioned in the episode. Since the interview was recorded, the BBC has reported on Bill Gates and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Articles include: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2vdekdweqo https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c309qv9zglno https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnv6rjp468ro (7 May 2026) The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, and Samantha Power, former US Ambassador to UN. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Sam Fenwick Producer: Cordelia Hemming Editor: Damon Rose
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(Image: Mark Suzman Credit: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.8 | Hello, I'm BBC presenter Sam Fennick, and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.4 | The best conversations coming out of the BBC, people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:20.2 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:25.1 | We have never seen a people so united. |
| 0:28.6 | Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. |
| 0:31.3 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. |
| 0:35.3 | We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:43.3 | In this interview, I met Mark Sussman, the CEO of the Gates Foundation, the world's largest philanthropic organisation and one of the most influential players in global health. |
| 0:49.3 | Last year, the United States scaled back parts of its overseas aid budget. It wasn't the only |
| 0:56.0 | country doing so, with many governments, including the UK, Germany, France and Japan, all |
| 1:01.7 | spending less. You're going to hear why Mark Sosman thinks cuts are having a huge impact on the |
| 1:08.5 | lives of the world's poorest. |
| 1:16.5 | In 2000, over 10 million children under the age of five died every year of preventable diseases. |
| 1:20.4 | And in 2024, it reached 4.6 million. |
| 1:27.4 | And yet last year, new projections show that that number went up for the first time this century. |
| 1:32.5 | In its annual letter, the Gates Foundation said the decisions around aid spending are already costing lives. |
| 1:37.1 | Welcome to the interview from the BBC World Service with Mark Sussman. |
| 1:42.7 | One of the great untold stories of the last 25 years has been the miracle in child survival. |
| 1:51.8 | That, you know, in 2000, which is when the Gates Foundation was set up, over 10 million kids, |
| 1:58.3 | children under the age of five, died every year of preventable diseases. |
| 2:02.2 | That number has been steadily declining every single year since then, and in 2024, it reached |
... |
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