Nigeria, June 24 -- The Gates Foundation has announced a $1.6 billion commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, over the next five years to help deliver lifesaving vaccines to children in the world's most vulnerable communities.

This was disclosed on the foundation's website on Tuesday. The announcement comes amid deep cuts to global aid budgets, which threaten to reverse decades of progress in child survival.

The chair of the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates warned that for the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid. "That is a tragedy," Mr Gates said, noting that fully funding Gavi is the single most powerful step to take to stop t...