Monday, January 25, 2010

Bill & Melinda Gates Waste Time & Money On Malaria

If Bill and Melinda Gates are not going to solve the malaria problem with their massive dollar input and influence, they should leave the issue alone. The Center has long promoted utilizing DDT and other effective pesticides to kill malaria carrying mosquitoes. After malaria has been eradicated, much as it was in the United States, the spraying of the insecticide should cease. Bill and Melinda? Time is short, particularly for children dying needlessly from this preventable killer. If the lives of your children and those of your friends were at stake, you know you would unhesitatingly use the most effective means available to prevent their deaths.

The Wall Street Journal describes the Gates charible operation:

The Seattle-based foundation focuses most of its donations on global health, agriculture development and education. Since 1994, the foundation has committed to $21.3 billion in grants. As of Sept. 30, 2009, its endowment totaled $34.17 billion. He talked about the way he and Melinda work as partners at the foundation, each focusing on problems that interest them and then sharing what they've learned and making decisions together on what the foundation should do.
Fine. But then Bill throws his hands up in the air and, regarding malaria, says:

"Vaccine development is progressing, but the cost to provide those vaccines to the poor is still a problem. It's going to be difficult to meet a six-year goal to get the retrovirus vaccine to more than half the kids who need it. Bed nets are helping decrease malaria deaths over Africa. Despite having one vaccine in a Phase III trial, an effective malaria vaccine is still 8 to 15 years away."
Combine vaccines with spraying to eliminate the vector. Burn the bed nets. You know we are right and if you do not have the backbone to stand up to politically correct but completely wrong 'bed net promoters,' please, just leave it alone. Just know that you have turned your backs on millions of children who could be easily saved from malaria deaths. Map shows malaria hot spots in red and yellow.

No comments: