Bill Gates Microsoft founder and brains behind one of the successful companies of this generation, Microsoft, is the richest man in the world today with a net worth of $77.8 billion. He and his wife Miranda said “Africa would be able to feed themselves by 2030 as diseases like polio are being eradicated and then hunger would be thing of the past. If you show people the problems and you show the solutions they will be moved to act.”
He pledged to give 95% of his wealth to charity. Bill Gates is never a showman. He travels by bus when goes on trekking tours India.
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, founded in 2000, raised $28m for charity and are a challenge to world leaders to tackle poverty and set their own goals to reduce hunger by 2030.
“Vaccines are a miracle cure. Eight out of 10 children are getting vaccines.” This is a quote from
Melinda Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in sustainable development: A Vision for the Future.
There is optimism for a sustainable future, where poverty is eradicated, disease eliminated and everyone has access to nutritious food and the opportunities presented by education. This message of hope was delivered by Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, Co-Chairs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA. They were speaking at the 45th World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos-Klosters.
Bill and Melinda Gates believe that the lives of people in poor countries will improve faster in the next 15 years than at any other time in history. Important breakthroughs will be driven by innovation and technology, ranging from new vaccines with universal coverage, better agricultural yields due to better seeds, better nutrition, cheaper smartphones and new ways to deliver these benefits to more people.
“At any increase in the level of GDP, life is better,” Bill Gates said. “We get economic growth, but the fundamental basics have improved as well. The wonderful thing about the fundamentals improving is that it will continue for the next 15 years.”
Poverty has been halved because of innovation, he said. “Countries are following others that have done it right. Economic miracles start with agriculture, education and then they can participate in the world economy.” He pointed to China, which is now a middle-income country, as an example.
Bill Gates predicted that “in the next 15 years, we will have the tools to reduce [the incidence] of malaria and AIDS by 95% to 100%”. Melinda Gates said that vaccines are “a miracle cure”. Today, eight out of 10 children are getting vaccines. “Biotechnology and innovation are absolutely saving lives,” she said.
One out of 10 children used to die before the age of five. Thanks to the development of new vaccines and treatments, the percentage of children who die before the age of five has been cut in half. “We are looking at the biggest childhood killers of the world and tackling them with incredible vaccines,” said Melinda Gates.
Vaccine systems are being developed and the lag time between research and development and a vaccine being ready is one to three years. Thanks to private and government funding, prices have gone down by 35%. Countries such as Vietnam, Ghana, Ethiopia and Rwanda are reporting 90% vaccination coverage.
The Gates believe that with innovation in agriculture, within 15 years Africa will be able to feed itself, with access to the latest seeds adapted to African regions. Melinda Gates noted that with training in how to plant, crop rotation, and no till farming, Africans will be able to feed their families and trade intra-country.
Cheap smartphones are a game-changer. “In the next 15 years mobile phone coverage will go up, and the price will come down, gender equity will improve and online software will be flourishing,” Bill Gates predicted. This will revolutionise everything:- agriculture, access to digital payments, low transaction costs, women’s empowerment and education.
“If you want to pick one thing in an economy, education is a master switch of economic improvement,” Bill Gates concluded.
