|
 "We got deeply involved in Ebola, and we're already getting deeply
involved in Zika," said Melinda Gates in an interview ahead of
release of the foundation's annual letter on Monday.
"We try to bring the best scientists together, and all the best
thinking together, with CDC, with WHO," to look at disease
populations, mosquito control, diagnostics and vaccines, she said.
The world's wealthiest foundation, chaired by the Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O>
co-founder and his wife, has helped make great strides against
diseases among the world's poorest nations. It distributed grants of
nearly $4 billion in 2014 and had $43.5 billion at the end of 2014,
according to latest available figures.
The Zika crisis "definitely caught us by surprise," Bill Gates said,
as the virus until recently did not appear to be a substantial
problem.
"It's another tragedy, and new medical technology can help, but it
never comes overnight the way that we would like it to," he said.
"Ebola, as tragic as it was, the world, including all these
scientists, are coming together a lot faster this time around."
The World Health Organization and governments were severely
criticized for a slow response to the deadly Ebola outbreak that
killed thousands of people in West Africa.
WHO on Feb 1 declared the Zika outbreak an international health
emergency. Since it appeared in Brazil last year, the virus has
spread to at least 32 countries and territories, mostly in the
Americas, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), with fears it will hit the United States and
elsewhere.
Studies under way are attempting to prove whether it is responsible
for a surge in a birth defect called microcephaly that can cause
serious brain damage and developmental problems.
The best way to tackle the crisis is by getting rid of mosquitoes
that carry and spread the disease, Bill Gates said.
"There's a couple of things the foundation has invested in for a
long time, one is how you either change mosquitoes not to carry
viruses or how you change mosquitoes so their populations go down
dramatically. Those are technologies that we were working on to get
rid of dengue and malaria," he said, noting that the same breed of
mosquito carries dengue and Zika.
[to top of second column] |
CALL TO YOUTH
This year's letter, a call to action for young people to get
involved in taking on the world's inequity problems, focused on
energy and time.
It highlighted the need for new sources of cheap carbon
emission-free energy that would enable more than a billion people in
poor nations living without electricity to enjoy conveniences long
taken for granted in the developed world.
"Within the next 15 years, and especially if young people get
involved, I expect the world will discover a clean energy
breakthrough that will save our planet and power our world," Bill
predicted in the letter.
Melinda focused on the disparity of time women spend on unpaid work
compared with men and how that prevents families from rising above
poverty.
Bringing modern conveniences to the poorest nations will help free
women to earn money for their families and pay better attention to
healthcare and nutrition, she said.
"If you want to transform society and lift people out of poverty,
you also have to look at this from a women's perspective," Melinda
Gates said. "Poverty is sexist."
(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
