British taxpayers are to fund the bulk of a £3 billion pledge delivered today by British Finance Minister George Osborne and Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates to wipe out malaria within decades, The Times reported.

The Microsoft tycoon will travel to Liverpool with Osborne to see groundbreaking scientific research into drugs, diagnostics and insecticides as Osborne locks in support from Britain’s aid budget until at least 2020.

The pair claim that the disease, which kills one child every minute, can be defeated because “problems such as hunger and disease aren’t insoluble”.