Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Windows on the World
So many people make fun of and dislike Bill Gates. But the Gates Foundation is doing good work.
Paul Allen (co-founder of MicroSoft) has his own charitable institution, "The Paul Allen Family Foundation."
So, say what you want about MicroSoft, but what did the billionaires of the past establish to rival Gates? Did Howard Hughes innoculate the world? Did J. Paul Getty work to modernize poor schools and libraries?
In its less than five years of existence GAVI has been responsible for the vaccination of some 54 million children against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, influenza type B, and yellow fever.
GAVI was set up in 2000 in response to stagnation in the rate of worldwide vaccination and the growing gap between industrialised and developing countries in access to vaccines.
"Despite remarkable progress in the past three decades in immunization coverage world-wide, it is unacceptable that in the 21st century, about two million people still die each year of infectious diseases that could have been entirely prevented through basic vaccinations," said Lee.
Paul Allen (co-founder of MicroSoft) has his own charitable institution, "The Paul Allen Family Foundation."
So, say what you want about MicroSoft, but what did the billionaires of the past establish to rival Gates? Did Howard Hughes innoculate the world? Did J. Paul Getty work to modernize poor schools and libraries?
