Bill Gates defends “the truth about vaccines”: Thanks to them, fewer children die

New York.- The American magnate Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and now dedicated full-time to philanthropy, defended in an interview with EFE “the truth about vaccines”, to face a growing noise, and recalled that, thanks to them, infant deaths have been reduced by half in 25 years. Gates announced a $912 million investment to fight malaria, AIDS, and tuberculosis and called for greater investment in vaccines at an event held by his foundation in New York, where he urged governments to join forces in what he considers a “turning point” for humanity.

“The data on vaccines is super clear, and in developing countries, quickly, if there is a rumor against the vaccine, for example the measles vaccine, there will be many deaths, very quickly. And mothers will say: wait a minute, this is a tragic mistake,” exemplified the businessman, pointing to the “rich countries.”

“In rich countries, because they have well-nourished children, with good health, even when they get measles, the probability of death is four in 1,000, while in Africa it is 300 in 1,000,” he explained, when asked about the recent anti-vaccine movement in Western countries.

Bill Gates defends the impact of vaccines

«Any death is a tragedy, and we must tell the truth about vaccines: they are the main reason why we have gone from ten million children dying each year at the beginning of the century, to now less than five million», said Bill Gates, aware that this statement today may be seen as a controversial political positioning. And he pointed directly to the “Global Fund” for the fight against malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis, and the vaccine platform “GAVI”, “which have the most credit for that miraculous improvement”. Gates, whose priority is the improvement of global health, claims on several occasions that voters in democratic countries who donate money to this cause should be “proud” to contribute to the “success” that is pulling developing countries out of the “poverty trap”. “It’s saving lives in exchange for very little money for each life saved, and helping these poor countries escape an incredible poverty trap, because all these diseases are much more prevalent in poor countries,” argues this figure in technology, who plans to donate all his money in the next 20 years.

A Richer World and More Child Deaths, A Fair Trade?

Bill Gates is no stranger to the fact that his country, as a power, is one of the main funders of the global health cause, but under the Republican government Donald Trump that progress is at risk due to cuts and freezes in foreign aid, under the premise of controlling public spending. “The world is getting richer, there is no reason to think that allowing more children to die is a correct trade-off,” says the philanthropist, whose foundation, nourished by his immense fortune, has gradually become one of the major funders of development, above governments.

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Even so, when asked about the dominant role of his foundation in institutions and platforms, and the impact of other private entities, he assures that “philanthropy will never come close to the levels of generosity of governments”, although he did defend that, at least in the US, it is “more transparent”. From his position of power, Gates says he has already met with President Donald Trump to “argue that case” for foreign aid, as well as with members of the Government and members of Congress, since the U.S. has not yet committed money to the Global Fund or GAVI. “I am hopeful, but I really can’t predict. Well, the best-case scenario is probably a modest (foreign aid) cut,” he predicts, adding that European governments are also making budgetary changes that are resulting in cuts in foreign aid.

An Early Warning

The businessman opined that voters should “pronounce themselves” on those changes and defend the generosity of their governments, because “if they could see this work (of development) they would move to provide that small percentage” which is usually 1%, and considered it “tragic to go below that level”. “Even with aging societies and budgetary pressures for Defense. Having, in the case of very generous countries, 2% of their budget, but on average, 1%, that is the kind of world we should live in,” he claims. And he warned that, otherwise, this year “child deaths will rise for the first time in 25 years”, but he was optimistic because he believes that resources will “be restored” and innovation will make it possible to achieve ambitious goals such as curing AIDS, or eradicating polio to halve child deaths.