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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Posted by Brian Kenety on 04 February 2010 09:21:13 PM

 

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate USD10 billion over the next decade to research vaccines and make them available to the world’s poorest countries, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife said last week. Calling on governments and businesses to contribute, the Gateses said the initiative will produce higher immunization rates and is intended to protect 90 percent of children in poorer countries against such dangerous conditions as diarrhea and pneumonia. Gates said the commitment more than doubles the USD4.5 billion the foundation has given to vaccine research over the years. The foundation said up to 7.6 million children under 5 could be saved through 2019 as a result of the donation. It also estimates that an additional 1.1 million kids would be saved if a malaria vaccine can be introduced by 2014. A tuberculosis vaccine would prevent even more deaths.

 

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Brian Kenety

Journalist and editor with expertise in development issues.

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