‘‘There is no reason we can’t cure the top 20 diseases [In the world].’’
June 29, 2006 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Announcements, Media, Medicine, Prevention, Technology
These were the astounding words uttered by Bill Gates on Tuesday at the New York Public Library during a donation ceremony. He was there accepting the gift of a promised 1.5 billion dollar a year contribution from Warren Buffet to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Shiny, happy people looked on as The Oracle of Omaha bought his way into heaven…
Warren Buffet-
‘‘There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.’’
Hmm, here on this end we’re not really sure if Warren has read any of his bible versus lately…
It’s a shot in the arm of the health industry in general and is already ushering-in thoughts of a utopian world and turning lots of would-be research students into the idealists they need to be to survive their field. This is great news to say the least, but some are fearing backlash once the honeymoon is over…
From NPR: Gerald Keusch, associate dean for global health at Boston University’s School of Public Health-
I worry about the effect that Gates’ money has on the investment of others. Say you are the government of Uganda, and you’ve decided you’re going to invest a certain amount of dollars in improving birth outcomes. And now Gates says, we’re going to put X million dollars into your country and suddenly the country’s own monetary commitment disappears. Then five or 10 years down the road, Gates says, “That’s enough,” and pulls out. There’s no continuity of support. I hope the foundation will now look more at long-term sustainability.
Keusch also goes on to say that, despite the problems that a philanthropic group this size can cause, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has truly worked wonders in some of the countries where it has focused its lazer-beam of cash and technology. Immunization programs in particular, have been their bread and butter, and they fill a real void in the world health community.
You take the good, you take the bad, you take the rest and then you have…
The Bill and Melynda Gates foundation.
All things considered, I’m glad they’re around.
NPR Story (pops)
AP Story (pops)
[tags] Charity, Disease, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet [/tags]
What are the top 20 diseases? What are the top mental disorders afflicting mankind?
good blog