Gates Foundation, Drug Companies Push To Eliminate 10 Tropical Diseases

-- Thirteen major pharmaceutical companies, government groups and health charities will work together in a push to eliminate or control by 2020 10 tropical diseases that affect more than a billion people in poor countries.

The partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, call it the largest coordinated effort ever to combat neglected tropical diseases. The government groups and charities alone are committing just over $785 million in new funding.

The drugmakers are donating billions of doses of their medicines over the rest of the decade, but did not attribute a value to them. The companies also will work together to speed up development of new treatments, and the partners will work on improving drug delivery and treatment programs, including prevention and education.

The diseases include leprosy, sleeping sickness and river blindness.

The project, announced Monday at the Royal College of Physicians in London, aims to meet the goals of the World Health Organization's roadmap for controlling the diseases by 2020.

"These ancient diseases are now being brought to their knees with stunning speed," said Dr. Margaret Chan, the organization's director-general.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the project's biggest donor, with a five-year, $363 million donation to support research and operations. The U.K. Department for International Development is committing about $305 million, and the U.S. Agency for International Development is providing $89 million. That's on top of USAID's $212 million investment since 2006. Other governments or charities are giving smaller amounts.

"Today, we have joined together to increase the impact of our investments and build on the tremendous progress made to date," Bill Gates said in a statement, adding that improving people's health would help them become self-sufficient.

The drugmakers donating medicines, research work, access to patented drug compounds and other assistance are Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca PLC, Bayer AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eisai Inc., Gilead Sciences Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Johnson & Johnson, Merck KgaA, Merck & Co., Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc. and Sanofi SA.

According to the Gates foundation, more than a billion people – more than half of them children – are affected by neglected tropical diseases, which either kill or cause malnutrition, serious disability, disfigurement and even social discrimination.

The diseases are common in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia and contribute to poverty. They are caused by worms and microscopic parasites or infections, generally acquired from insect bites, contaminated drinking water or contact with infected people.

Existing, affordable treatments and preventive steps have already reduced the prevalence of some tropical diseases, such as leprosy, Guinea worm disease and river blindness.

Comments

[lulian1950]

04:30 PM on 02/02/2012

He is a man of dignity ,passion,he has lot of regard for poor people like no body in this Plane ,,his heart is to big ,God bless him and his Family

[jened]

08:47 PM on 01/31/2012

I have zero trust in his pharma cohorts. They just want to make bucks. God Bill is looking older. I wonder if he's had too many flu shots?

[Jude Arsenault]

05:29 PM on 01/31/2012

and another:
http://www.infowars.com/bill-gates-media-partners-praise-vaccine-gmo-programs-led-by-microsoft-founder/

[Jude Arsenault]

05:23 PM on 01/31/2012

here is another interesting article:
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/08/02/bill-gates-and-his-10-billion-vaccine-scam
I live in Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, and the government here has reduced malaria mortality by over 80% in the last decade. This is the biggest breakthrough in preventing malaria mortality in history, yet there has yet to be a single story on this in any of the major international media.

This historic breakthrough has been accomplished in Eritrea by the use of good old-fashioned public health methods, that tried and true science that is responsible for the major increase in longevity that took place in the 20th century. That’s right, public health, meaning first of all, clean drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene, has been the biggest breakthrough in human health in history; not antibiotics or vaccines or drugs of any sort. Yet Public Health is increasingly under attack in much of the western world.

[Jude Arsenault]

04:55 PM on 01/31/2012

i copied and pasted this from a google search but it is what i think too.you cannot trust someone like him who invests in monsanto and cargill.he is a corporate psychopath.
This man has attended a bilderberg think tank of the global elite where they plot the world events for the next year to carry out their end game one world government and maximise their profit and increase suffering. He has set up a charity that gives mass vaccinations to Africa-then makes them pay it back the following year. So not a charity but a way to increase their debt. Poverty in Africa is not mainly caused by famine but by foreign occupation and the west putting puppet dictators in power to maximise profits for oil companies. Africans do not need Aids and mercury tainted vaccines they need the west to stop controlling their continent. Bill Gates has spoken many times that the world is over populated. It is that the elite see us as a threat as we outnumber them greatly. This man and the like want an 85 percent population reduction. I am sure his vaccines are responsible for killing millions. He has spoken and said vaccines could be used for this.
I would like to add that during the famine in Ethopia in 1984,The Ethopian government was exporting crops to rich countries to feed cattle for the wealthy people's appetite for animal flesh while Ethiopians starved.
http://viva.org.uk/guides/feedtheworld.htm

[Mools]

10:23 AM on 01/31/2012

This is great for Gates to use his wealth for such good around the world. Unfortunately, unlike Gates, I have zero confidence in the drug companies to do much good with Gates' money.

The sad reality is that drug companies are corporations. They are legally obligated to put the interests of their shareholders before all else. That includes people who are sick and dying. As such, it is in drug companies best interests to NOT try curing any diseases and instead, invest all their money into researching ways to treat symptoms. This way there will be a never ending demand for their product.

And as a corporate entity, drug companies rely heavily on patents to control product and prevent cheaper competition from coming about. This is why "new" versions of drugs that technically are no different from the old version keep coming out...and often costing more. No competition, increased profits, people get screwed and the rich get richer.

I doubt anyone will be cured. Instead, as the article suggests, drug companies will get a steady stream of funding to "control" the diseases for an undefined period of time. Maybe for ever?

[Jude Arsenault]

10:50 AM on 01/31/2012

absolutely and gates is no hero.http://occupycorporatism.com/?p=4307

[Jude Arsenault]

09:56 AM on 01/31/2012

Bill Gates is heavily involved with Monsanto who is an huge corporation of genetical engineering. I do not trust anything that he or big pharma are doing! people are incredibly naive and that is why the world is in such a mess.Stop trusting master minds and start thinking for yourselves!!!
http://current.com/community/91070994_ending-africas-hunger-gates-foundation-monsanto.htm

[samseed]

07:57 AM on 01/31/2012

Worth a watch...dont believe everything you hear about ol' Billy. Not sayin everything here is true or false, but just trying to keep people informed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVHkbhqxj7Q

[Mr e MaN]

02:15 AM on 01/31/2012

That is great news indeed he and Warran Buffet have poured a great deal of their fortunes into these challenges. Most of us cheer that.

[Jude Arsenault]

10:49 AM on 01/31/2012

why are people so naive?do you think these people got their money ethically? things are often not at all what they appear to be and definately not in this case!
http://occupycorporatism.com/?p=4307
Fulvic acid is a humic substance that has been medically proven to naturally regenerate cells that have been attacked by viruses and auto immune diseases. It is a substance that does not require millions of dollars and has been proven to regenerate cells that have been inflicted with the AIDS virus. It has been proven to cure AIDS.
http://www.optimallyorganic.com/PDF/humic_fulvic.pdf

[Mr e MaN]

11:21 AM on 01/31/2012

I know some think Windows is unethical in tha past but please stay real. Warren Buffet is at least a realist in efforts to help regular Americans with his endorsment of fairer tax systems. he earned his money the old fashion way he is modest und unpretention and has bdedicated his fotune to help others. What ever the benifits of fluvic acid you are missing the point. I did not see any research on the problems they are try to solve.

[Ppaatt]

12:15 AM on 01/31/2012

Credit where due. This is great news.

[Warren Yuill]

08:59 PM on 01/30/2012

Go Bill!!

[Junaid Noori]

08:22 PM on 01/30/2012

I love you, Bill.

[SeanMartin]

07:18 PM on 01/30/2012

It truly says something when the lead article on Canadian HP is about eliminating illness, while HP US is obsessed with that stu.pid primary.

[colddoseofsumthin]

07:14 PM on 01/30/2012

all good until the religious fanatics start hacking off inoculated limbs.

[eumen17]

07:13 PM on 01/30/2012

The drug companies donate drugs that cost the X to make.
They can probably deduct from their taxes the retail selling price of the drug which could be 10X.
A quote from the article:
The drugmakers are donating billions of doses of their medicines over the rest of the decade, but did not attribute a value to them.
I do not expect the drug companies to be out of pocket on this.

[Susan Shaffer]

12:18 AM on 01/31/2012

I was living in Lahore in 2001. In the drug market there was german made lipitor on sale. The reason was the Pfizer Germany had donated the meds to the Afghanis (remember those poor starving individuals that were eating moldy bread must have had high cholesterol). The aid agencies brought the drugs to Lahore to swap for antibiotics.