NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates met once with U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. since he took office, and the two “agreed to disagree” about vaccines, Gates told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
Kennedy has long promoted doubts about vaccine safety and efficacy, and as health secretary, he has upended U.S. vaccine policy.
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The pair met in July, Gates’ staff said. The Gates Foundation is one of the biggest global health funders, and Gates is a prominent supporter of immunizations.
“We agreed to disagree on some things about vaccines, but moved on to talk about areas that we would agree on,” said Gates.
“If we’re at all pragmatic, we should be able to find a way to work together,” he told Reuters ahead of the foundation’s annual Goalkeepers event in New York.
The event celebrates and seeks to accelerate progress on United Nations global development goals set for 2030, including improving health and ending poverty.
Gates said the U.S. funds important research in areas like maternal health and gestational diabetes.
The U.S. could benefit from the foundation’s work to bring down the costs of disease prevention and treatment tools in low-income countries, such as for HIV, Gates said.
Gates on Monday pledged $912 million to the Global Fund to End AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and urged governments to step up
Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Cynthia Osterman