Billionaire philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates speak on the racial and gender disparities of the current pandemic
Speaking at the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, the couple discussed plans to make sure that Covid-19 treatments and vaccines don’t just go to the highest-bidding nations but are distributed equitably. s the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the globe, Bill and Melinda Gates have been on the forefront of coordinating the search for effective prevention and treatment of the disease. The couple, who has spent years fighting against infectious diseases like polio, is critical of the U.S.
“One of the reasons we are so involved in this is that you don’t want the first vaccines to go to the highest-bidding countries,” Melinda Gates explained. “There are 60 million healthcare workers [around the world]. They deserve to get the vaccine first, they’re the ones dealing with this on the front lines, trying to keep us all safe. And then you have to start to tier from there, based on the countries and the populations.
Melinda Gates revealed that when Ebola broke out in East Africa and made its way to Lagos, Nigeria—one of the most populous cities in the world—the WHO converted its polio resources to fight the new threat. Polio clinics became emergency response clinics that did contact tracing and quarantining, which prevented the virus from spreading to the U.S. “The world got lucky on Ebola,” said Melinda, who reminded the audience that diseases like measles were more infectious than coronavirus.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bill Gates is quietly advocating for the US to lead the global fight against COVID-19Since early May, Gates has been quietly advocating for the United States to retake its leadership role in global public health. He said this week's proposal represents a return to that role — though the commitment falls short of what he believes is needed.
Read more »
Bill Gates: Slow Turnaround of COVID-19 Tests Makes Them A 'Complete Waste'In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Bill Gates had sharp criticism for the United State’s COVID-19 testing system, calling it a “complete waste” that requires a much shorter turnaround period to be truly effective
Read more »
Bill Gates: U.S. 'sadly' not taking coronavirus ‘seriously’Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates warned that U.S. failure to take the coronavirus “seriously” could have even more dire consequences when the fall brings conditions conducive to the spread of the pandemic.
Read more »
Bill Gates: Spread of 'outrageous' coronavirus video shows flaw in social media platformsGates said that the spread of the “outrageous” video shows how social media companies struggle to contain damaging misinformation before it gains wide attention.
Read more »
Bill Gates says most coronavirus tests are a 'complete waste' because the results come back too slowMicrosoft founder Bill Gates has slammed coronavirus testing in the US, saying that most tests are a 'complete waste' because it takes too long for the results to come back
Read more »