Bill Gates says rich governments are failing the developing world
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《英国医生杂志》
Bill Gates, one of the world's leading industrialists, this week denounced the "tragic, incredible inequity between the health of the people in the developing world and the health of those in the rest of the world" in an address to the World Health Assembly in Geneva. The majority of his audience were the health ministers of the world's poorest countries.
Mr Gates, who created a $200m (￡110m; 160m) health foundation called "The Grand Challenges in Global Health" in 2003, told the World Health Organization's annual assembly that he would more than double its resources by immediately giving an additional $250m—for a total of $450m.
"In my view—and there is no diplomatic way to put this—the world is failing billions of people. Rich governments are not fighting some of the world's most deadly diseases because rich countries don't have them. The private sector is not developing vaccines and medicines for these diseases because developing countries can't buy them," the founder of the software computer giant Microsoft declared.
Bill Gates: an optimist despite everything
Credit: ADELE STARR/AP/EMPICS
And he added pointedly that "many developing countries are not doing nearly enough to improve the health of their own people."
Describing himself nevertheless as "an optimist," the founder of Microsoft said "we are on the verge of taking historic steps to reduce disease in the developing world. I am convinced we will see more groundbreaking scientific advances for health in the developing world in the next 10 years than we have seen in the last 50."
Citing examples for his optimism, Mr Gates said, "We are seeing today a new, safe, cheap drug for visceral leishmaniasis, a disease that kills more than 250 000 people every year. We have seen a demonstration this past year that we have a single vaccine for pneumonia that could reduce all deaths in Africa by 15%.
"We see old malaria drugs make way for new, more effective drugs, including new drug combinations that are extremely effective with only three days' treatment.
"We have seen a malaria vaccine in trials last year that showed promise of preventing severe malaria in young children. This is the first solid scientific evidence that a malaria vaccine is possible."(Paul Ress)
Mr Gates, who created a $200m (￡110m; 160m) health foundation called "The Grand Challenges in Global Health" in 2003, told the World Health Organization's annual assembly that he would more than double its resources by immediately giving an additional $250m—for a total of $450m.
"In my view—and there is no diplomatic way to put this—the world is failing billions of people. Rich governments are not fighting some of the world's most deadly diseases because rich countries don't have them. The private sector is not developing vaccines and medicines for these diseases because developing countries can't buy them," the founder of the software computer giant Microsoft declared.
Bill Gates: an optimist despite everything
Credit: ADELE STARR/AP/EMPICS
And he added pointedly that "many developing countries are not doing nearly enough to improve the health of their own people."
Describing himself nevertheless as "an optimist," the founder of Microsoft said "we are on the verge of taking historic steps to reduce disease in the developing world. I am convinced we will see more groundbreaking scientific advances for health in the developing world in the next 10 years than we have seen in the last 50."
Citing examples for his optimism, Mr Gates said, "We are seeing today a new, safe, cheap drug for visceral leishmaniasis, a disease that kills more than 250 000 people every year. We have seen a demonstration this past year that we have a single vaccine for pneumonia that could reduce all deaths in Africa by 15%.
"We see old malaria drugs make way for new, more effective drugs, including new drug combinations that are extremely effective with only three days' treatment.
"We have seen a malaria vaccine in trials last year that showed promise of preventing severe malaria in young children. This is the first solid scientific evidence that a malaria vaccine is possible."(Paul Ress)