While Steve Jobs has been focused on his new iPad, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have been busy saving the world. According to BBC News, the couple has announced that they will donate $10 billion over the next 10 years to develop and deliver new vaccines.
Gates, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the aim was to see 90% of children in developing countries immunized. Over the past 10 years, the couple’s charity has committed $4.5 billion to the development of vaccines. The World Health Organization called their new commitment “unprecedented.”
“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.” He said that by increasing immunization coverage in poorer countries to 90% it should be possible to save the lives of 7.6 million children under five between 2010 and 2019.
It’s heartbreaking to think that we have the medicine to save people and we’re not doing anything about it. Gates said money was needed to make the most of new vaccines now becoming available, including ones against severe diarrhea and pneumonia.
Melinda Gates, who is the co-chair of their foundation, added: “Vaccines are a miracle. With just a few doses, they can prevent deadly diseases for a lifetime. We’ve made vaccines our number one priority at the Gates Foundation because we have seen first hand their incredible impact on children’s lives.”
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