Global public health spending has stalled out, according to a new report from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that calls for a boost to programs to help address childhood malnutrition.

Much of the world has emerged from the pandemic era and recovered in many respects, including in the realms of economics and travel. But in terms of public health spending, the recovery is far from complete.

As Foundation co-chair Bill Gates wrote in the annual Goalkeepers report, “When historians write about the first quarter of the 21st century, I think they may sum it up this way: Twenty years of unprecedented progress followed by five years of stagnation.”

He added, “The global health boom is over. But for how long?”

The Goalkeepers report highlights the particular need to improve maternal and childhood nutrition. According to UNICEF, more than 400 million children suffer from malnutrition. And developing nations that face some of the most acute needs also face climbing debt and an unwillingness or inability to increase their spending.

Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman discussed what’s at stake in an interview with Yahoo Finance.

“Health is actually arguably the most important long-term economic investment any country can make in its own citizens,” he said.

According to Suzman, costs stemming from malnutrition go into "the trillions of dollars" — and represent sizable percentages of GDPs across multiple countries.

The report outlines lower-cost solutions to address nutritional deficiencies, including multivitamins and farming practices to get cows to yield more milk. Technology, which has had a role in many of the Gates Foundation’s past endeavors, is less at play.

“The solutions to these things are not expensive, and they’re very easy to roll out in theory,” Suzman said.

A key challenge is getting governments to sign on due to the costs, which may be possible for global funders but impossible for cash-strapped governments, "many of which have been experiencing huge debt crises and other fiscal crises over the last few years in the wake of COVID," Suzman noted. "We need global funders to be able to step in and help.”

Melinda Gates stepped down from her namesake foundation effective June 7, and the organization is planning to rename itself the Gates Foundation. Suzman said its mission won’t change.

Julie Hyman is the co-host of Market Domination on Yahoo Finance. You can find her on social media @juleshyman.

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