Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Mr Gates does it again
Regular readers of this blog know that I am no fan of Microsoft products or business practices. On the other hand, I hold Bill Gates in very high regard, especially the part of him that works with the Gates Foundation. More proof of Gates's extremely well-targeted interventions emerged yesterday with the announcement of a $750 millon grant to help vaccinate children in developing countries, especially in Africa. The contribution by Bill Gates was in addition to the $290 million announced by that NGO pretending to be a nation state, Norway. That makes it over a billion dollars to help with child vaccination programs.
An estimated 27 million babies in the developing world aren't immunized each year, and in 2002, the most recent data show, 1.4 million children died from diseases that have been virtually wiped out in the United States. Every one of those deaths is totally unacceptable when we have an affordable and effective means to prevent those deaths," said Melinda Gates. GAVI's goal is to vaccinate 90 percent of children in the poorest countries by 2015. "That's a very achievable goal with the right resources," said Bill Gates, describing his foundation's contribution as a down payment and calling on rich countries to help fill in the gap. "I feel very good that over the next years government contributions to GAVI will be substantial. We're basically saving lives for less than $1,000 a life," he said.
The money will be used to shore up distribution systems and buy urgently needed basic childhood vaccines such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles and polio in 72 of the world's poorest countries. It also will introduce vaccines for diseases such as hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B (HiB) and yellow fever to the countries that need them most.
There are very few targetted interventions that can provide the same bang for the buck as childhood vaccinations, and I cannot applaud Gates's gesture enough. This man understands the development game better than most people who specialise in the field.
An estimated 27 million babies in the developing world aren't immunized each year, and in 2002, the most recent data show, 1.4 million children died from diseases that have been virtually wiped out in the United States. Every one of those deaths is totally unacceptable when we have an affordable and effective means to prevent those deaths," said Melinda Gates. GAVI's goal is to vaccinate 90 percent of children in the poorest countries by 2015. "That's a very achievable goal with the right resources," said Bill Gates, describing his foundation's contribution as a down payment and calling on rich countries to help fill in the gap. "I feel very good that over the next years government contributions to GAVI will be substantial. We're basically saving lives for less than $1,000 a life," he said.
The money will be used to shore up distribution systems and buy urgently needed basic childhood vaccines such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles and polio in 72 of the world's poorest countries. It also will introduce vaccines for diseases such as hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B (HiB) and yellow fever to the countries that need them most.
There are very few targetted interventions that can provide the same bang for the buck as childhood vaccinations, and I cannot applaud Gates's gesture enough. This man understands the development game better than most people who specialise in the field.
