Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced a $150 million investment in its Data for Health Initiative as well as a $40 million investment from the Gates Foundation.

Launched in 2015, the Data for Health Initiative supports partnerships with organizations and governments in low- and middle-income countries, enabling them to gather accurate public health data. To date, the initiative has supported the collection of 12.2 million birth records and 16.2 million new or improved death records across 31 countries. The latest commitments will fund further collections; the establishment of cancer registries, training, technical assistance; and a new focus on refugee and internally displaced populations. In total, $436 million has been committed to the initiative since its launch.

“When we launched the Data for Health Initiative nearly a decade ago, we aimed to empower nations with the tools they need to measure and manage major public health challenges—and the results have been encouraging,” said Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P. founder Michael R. Bloomberg.

“Children today are twice as likely as children in the year 2000 were to live past their fifth birthday—thanks in large part to data that help us understand who dies where, and why,” said Gates Foundation chair Bill Gates. “This is a simple idea, but it’s difficult to execute, especially in remote communities. These investments will help improve data-gathering and, in turn, give us a fuller picture of where and how diseases impact people, so that more children and families can live better, healthier lives.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Kobus Louw)