Gates $10B Donation

(Jan. 29) -- In the largest donation yet by his private charitable foundation, Bill Gates has announced he'll donate $10 billion for the development of new vaccines and their distribution in developing countries.

"We must make this the decade of vaccines," Gates said in a statement. "Vaccines already save and improve millions of lives in developing countries. Innovation will make it possible to save more children than ever before."

Gates and his wife, Melinda, called upon businesses and international governments to add to the contribution, which they estimate could save the lives of 7.6 million children under the age of 5 by 2019. Among the vaccines they hope to develop and distribute are those for malaria and tuberculosis, ailments that have been all but eradicated in the U.S. but still plague poorer nations.

Alessandro Della Bella, Keystone/AP
Bill and Melinda Gates, here Friday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, announced a $10 billion donation to develop and distribute new vaccines to poor countries. It is the largest donation from the couple's charitable foundation.

The World Health Organization is enthusiastically behind the initiative, with Margaret Chan, head of the WHO, calling it "unprecedented."

Global health is one of the priorities of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but this new donation eclipses its average health-related donations of years past -- about $800 million annually, which approaches the total yearly budget for the United Nations' WHO.

The $10 billion donation is being lauded by the international community, but a 2007 investigation by the Los Angeles Times concluded that the Gates' international medical aid was actually putting children at risk. At the time, efforts to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria led to highly specialized medical training and a subsequent shortage of basic-care doctors. In turn, more children died of common ailments like sepsis and diarrhea.

The disproportionate focus on certain illnesses has also meant that resources were diverted away from basic needs, like clean water and food, which, ironically, are necessary for the proper digestion of AIDS medications provided by the foundation's dollars.

And while there's no doubt that more money, and more attention, are fundamentally important in saving the lives of vulnerable children, health experts have cautioned against over-celebrating large-scale donations like this one.

Dr. Peter Poore, a pediatrician who works as a consultant to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), one of the overseas health operatives that's received Gates money in the past, warned that overstating the impact of donor programs can actually stall foreign health care. "They can also do dangerous things," he told the Times. "They can be very disruptive to health systems -- the very things they claim they are trying to improve."

No matter how many vaccines the foundation pays for, its aid isn't sustainable unless it also pays to train foreign doctors and equip a nation's hospitals and medical centers. Dr. Tadataka Yamada, president of the Gates Foundation's global health program, has said that its money can only be "a catalyst" and urged African governments to fill the gaps. But with even doctors in Africa succumbing to AIDS, the narrow focus of the Gates Foundation might only compound the problem.

With an endowment exceeding $35 billion, there's no doubt that Gates and his family will be in the business of donations for years to come. Surely, those billions will save lives. But with a philanthropist who advocates "recognition as an added incentive" for generosity, here's hoping that countries on the receiving end can - somehow - do what's needed behind the scenes to take that money and make sustainable changes.


Cliff notes:
Bill Gates donates $10 billion to help get kids vaccines
Everyone hates on him for it.



This kinda shit tilts me, bill gates makes the biggest donation in history and everyone starts fucking hating on him for it.. its total bull shit, if they need a more generalized doctors and shit then im sure some other country can donate $1B and train a few fuckin nurses around there or something.. I duno i think biggy said, if they aren't hating, your not doing it right.. so fuckin true these days. Another little fact, this puts bill gates donations at over 70% of everything hes ever made, for every 1$ hes made hes donated 70c this far. Warren Buffet attempted to donate 85% of his life earnings.. the walmart family, has donated less than 1% of their fortune.

Mad respect for that guy.

Having money, and knowing how to behave when u have it - those are two completely different worlds.

On January 29 2010 16:45 Defrag wrote: Mad respect for that guy. Having money, and knowing how to behave when u have it - those are two completely different worlds.

At LP we only respect baller watches and BMWs not charity.

On January 29 2010 16:45 Defrag wrote: Mad respect for that guy. Having money, and knowing how to behave when u have it - those are two completely different worlds.

x10

IT'S HIS
MOTHERFUCKING
MONEY
HE'S SAVING CHILDREN
Shoot all the haters please.

i think we shoulda have a fuckin bill gates holiday, hes done as much as MLK did for black kids by now

There are a lot of better things he could do with that other than stupid vaccines

starving children don't need vaccines if they're gonna starv to death anyway

On January 29 2010 17:10 milkman wrote: i think we shoulda have a fuckin bill gates holiday, hes done as much as MLK did for black kids by now

I like this.

is this not going to lead to some wild overcrowding of our planet?

On January 29 2010 17:21 byrnesam wrote: is this not going to lead to some wild overcrowding of our planet?

are you serious with this comment ?

overpopulation is already a problem

im not down with this idea.

On January 29 2010 17:27 nolan wrote: overpopulation is already a problem im not down with this idea.

its nasty work but someones gotta do it

On January 29 2010 16:45 Defrag wrote: Mad respect for that guy. Having money, and knowing how to behave when u have it - those are two completely different worlds.

well said

On January 29 2010 17:11 player999 wrote: There are a lot of better things he could do with that other than stupid vaccines starving children don't need vaccines if they're gonna starv to death anyway

Unfortunately you are right there are some things money cant buy, I do respect Bill Gates but what are you going to do with $200 billion when you are dead anyway, you might as well try to be remembered for doing something good

On January 29 2010 17:02 Maynard! wrote: Show nested quote + On January 29 2010 16:45 Defrag wrote: Mad respect for that guy. Having money, and knowing how to behave when u have it - those are two completely different worlds. At LP we only respect baller watches and BMWs not charity.

dont worry, like most money being pumped into developing nations im sure a few government officals will take their share for a few essentials like these.

On January 29 2010 17:11 player999 wrote: There are a lot of better things he could do with that other than stupid vaccines starving children don't need vaccines if they're gonna starv to death anyway

are you retarded. jeez. LPers think donating to disaster relief is good and this is bad?

illness -> tiredness -> harder to survive. in the battle for survival small edges make a big difference

also theres a lot of vaccines that are very close to be being found with a bit of research. but theres not a big market for third world vaccines so not much research

I dont feel like you have the knowledge about this donation to be able to make a meaningful comment about it.Bill Gates is the most successful man ever.Do you think he s retarded?Do you think he doesnt know of all the possible variety of donations he could make and what their effect would be ?There is not only one factor to concider here.If he s chosen this exact one then its probably one of the best possible.Your thought proccess is pretty naive :

starving children don't need vaccines if they're gonna starv to death anyway

well a well fed children that are sick and have no health system would also die so it wouldnt matter if he can eat 3 times a day but die from some disease in the end anyway ...
Its better to eliminite the diseases factor first and then proceed with the others.
Also 10 billion $ look like an enormous sum indeed but if its spread for food & clean water through many nations in the end he would help absolutely noone
Also many children die coz of starvation per day but the same amount dies coz of diseases like TB and so on

I'm just feeding these countries > giving vaccines, reading cohpreension ftl...

This sum would be completely insufficient to feed all of the countries that need help wtf