Speaking to an audience at Cambridge University this week, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates made some optimistic predictions about the future of global health. Gates says investing in scientific innovation will allow world health organizations to significantly reduce world hunger and eliminate malaria in the next 20 years.
Gates, who recently received the Professor Hawking Fellowship from the university, says cutting edge discoveries in fortified foods and maternal medicine are strong tools for eliminating malnutrition, which causes half of all deaths in children under two. We featured a story a few weeks ago about three critical steps for eliminating malaria. Gates agrees that mobilizing gene editing in mosquitos, and vaccinations are the solutions to eliminating the disease.
The key, Gates says, is funding projects to mobilize innovation in affected areas. We have solutions to these problems. The issue is implementing them.
This proclamation is a hopeful prediction for the future of world health. Eliminating some of the most detrimental medical issues in developing countries means these areas can alleviate suffering and also boost their economy’s general societal well being.
