Bill Gates to the Rescue

Fire of Liberty

Nick Schulz has a great piece over at National Review Online on Bill Gates emphasis towards reform at the WHO when dealing with HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and malnutrition in the various developing nations of Asia and Africa. As one of the most successful as well as wealthy business men of America or for even the World, Gates has a mind focused on innovation and more effective policies on reducing such scourges in these areas. It's rather refreshing to see a fellow American challenging this World organization and these various states to reform. Until these entities start listening to Gates and similar voices of innovation and reform, countless people will continue to die or starve due to the bureaucratic nonsense that continues. Just look at what Schulz has to report on Gates:

In recent years Gates has expressed a keen concern for global health issues and made that interest manifest through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates believes in the power of human ingenuity to develop products that address the "staggering disease burden unknown in the rich world." Many global health problems — from HIV/AIDS to malaria to tuberculosis — can only be tackled with ingenious technologies. Gates aims, through his philanthropy, to provide incentives for their development, providing the capital necessary to unlock the creative, entrepreneurial genius within the world's science community.

Unlike many activists and bureaucrats who simply hector the world's wealthy nations for more aid, Gates put his money where his mouth is, and this week he pledged $250 million — on top of the $200 million he has already committed — to the Grand Challenges Initiative, an effort launched in 2003 to pursue scientific advances beneficial to global health. He has already given over $4 billion to global health efforts out of an endowment of nearly $30 billion.

Most of these funds are not typical aid grants. They are carefully designed to spur innovation by offering incentives for scientists and engineers to develop "breakthroughs you can use."

Typically at these U.N.-sponsored events, the rich nations of the world — particularly the U.S — are painted as the bad guys. And while Gates prodded the rich countries to do more, refreshingly he highlighted the disastrous response to epidemic disease from developing-country governments. "Countries in sub-Saharan Africa," Gates said, "spend a smaller percentage of their GDP on health than any other region in the world."

I just don't understand why so many people seem to despise Gates so much. Though he could sit back and enjoy his billions and let governments deal with these problems, Gates is out front leading a campaign to put a dent in the problem. Where is Gates Nobel Prize? Unlike Arafat, Gates has tried and probably has saved lives with his efforts. I wish him good luck because the UN and WHO needs help.