In 1993 Melinda and I took our first trip to Africa. I was working with Microsoft at the time and I was convinced that the power of technology could change the world.
But during our visit, I saw that many of the world's life-saving, life-enhancing discoveries were not available in Africa. That was deeply upsetting to me. It didn't fit my belief that innovation is for everyone.
I became convinced that if science and technology were better applied to the challenges of Africa, the tremendous potential of the continent would be unleashed and people could be healthier and fulfill their promise.
Since our first visit many African countries have made striking advances, driven by wise government investments in health and education and agriculture. Incomes have risen. Poverty has fallen. Trade and investment have doubled. Childhood deaths are down. Africa is on the rise.
When a country has the skill and self-confidence to take action against its biggest problems, it makes outsiders eager to be a part of it. That is why Melinda and I are so optimistic about our work on the continent. We see the promise.
In my annual letter I talk about the promise I see in so many areas of health and development and I argue that the key to living up to this promise is great leadership. The African Union meeting in Addis Ababa -- held last week -- was a great time for African leaders to consider what it will take to continue the upward trend in Africa.
The principle focus of our foundation is on health. We believe that if children are healthy, they can learn, become educated, start businesses, improve their farms and help their families prosper.
In the area of vaccines -- the biggest financial commitment of our foundation -- there have been some striking successes. From 1980 to 2008, vaccines drove diphtheria cases down by 93 percent, tetanus cases down by 85 percent and measles cases down by 93 percent.
But if we don't keep moving forward, we will quickly fall behind. In the past few years we didn't do so well vaccinating for measles and that led to outbreaks in 28 countries. This doesn't have to happen. Last year Melinda went to Malawi and was inspired to see that front-line, well-trained healthcare workers helped the country reach at least 85 percent of all infants with standard vaccines. All countries should try to match that.
An immediate test is polio. Polio cases have dropped by 99 percent. We are on the threshold of eradicating the disease. But the past few years have given us a humbling lesson in how difficult it is to eradicate a disease. The answer is a strong, society-wide partnership of people and their leaders to strengthen vaccine coverage. We can end polio. We are so close.
We have been especially impressed with Africa's progress on malaria. Ten countries have dropped cases and deaths by 50 percent. The effort has been a model of government-citizen action. I hope we can see this same kind of partnership in other crucial challenges, such as AIDS, vaccines and agriculture.
AIDS treatment has expanded to five million people. That's an impressive accomplishment. But there are 33-million people living with HIV. Treating every one of them would cost four times the money currently provided. The math is harsh, but inescapable: we cannot defeat AIDS unless we dramatically cut the number of new cases through prevention.
To do that, we have to make new preventative tools widely available as soon as possible, especially male circumcision, microbicide gels and an anti-HIV drug that blocks infection. The people of Africa and their leaders should demand these preventative tools now.
Finally, I believe that agriculture -- our foundation's second-biggest commitment -- offers one of the greatest opportunities in Africa. If African farmers can use improved seeds and better practices to grow more crops and get them to market, then millions of families can earn a better living and a better life.
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, led by Kofi Annan, is working to develop and distribute new seeds that have higher yields and stronger resistance to pests, drought and disease. If citizens and their governments ensure that African farmers can use these new seeds and have all the advantages of recent advances, the farmland of Africa can become the answer to hunger and poverty -- and a trigger for wide economic growth.
Africa's future is in the hands of its people and its leaders. Melinda and I want to work with you to advance your progress. We want to help fund the innovations that can help every person live a life of health and opportunity. For us, this is the most meaningful work we can do. We're honored that you let us be a part of it.
Read the 2011 Annual Letter from Bill Gates.
Follow Bill Gates on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BillGates
Ken Wong: Here's What We've Learned About Schools And Malawi
Interesting, these seeds wouldn't be from Monsanto would they????
Surely the gentleman from Seattle can't be serious...
Mr. Gates please leave the Africa, and her people alone. They are doing just fine without you.
As to where he's doing this it does seem strange people are dying of diseases in his own town and he's not spending a penny here to help. We have school short of basics and not a penny spent. Roads are falling apart and not a penny of help. Schools are a mess and not a penny of help. Rapid transit has fallen apart and not a penny of help. Homeless number are growing and not a penny of help. Unemployment is a constant problem and not a single project to increase employment.
He has a need to cover his tail by doing things where it looks good but can't really be judged from here. I'm no fan of the man. I think that's obvious. He's a vastly wealthy man who let his own neighbors suffer. He won't win my applause for these projects overseas.
And we are not the wealthiest nation. We are 13 trillion or more in debt. Have you read about the infrastructure of this country collapsing while our taxes go to corrupt regimes and we launder our tax money by giving those regimes money to buy american companies war machines. Those companies that avoid paying taxes by having the headquarters in other countries? The US is an evil empire intent on dominating the world. Backed up by said billionaires. WAKE THE HELL UP
Gates is smart. He knows that throwing money down a gov toilet does not help the poor. Americans have enough money to solve their problems if gov wasn't sucking 75% of i8t away in admin costs and wasted resources.
Africans are dying literally. Get the UN and Greenpeace out of the way and quit experimenting on Africans with solar cells and windmills and let them prosper.
I also know from personal experience that more than vaccines, and/or vaccination is needed, and those are education, clean water, improved sanitation and changes within government structures.
Malaria will not abate without clean water and improved sanitation. And as it has cylclically decreased and reemerged, more education is necessary to avoid transmission.
And very essential is to increase the will of government's participation in generalised health and welfare of their people-hood.
I posted nothing that isn't already known about Bill Gates. There was no slander of any kind. Bill Gates was notorious at Microsoft for a "scorched earth, take no prisoners" culture of competition at Microsoft, a culture that is still maintained there by his successor, Steve Ballmer. Anyone familiar with the animosity Microsoft presents to real competition in the form of Linux will find this fact hard to disagree with.
While I can imagine that Bill would like to turn a new leaf with his foundation, it appears that he really hasn't done so. His foundation has very large holdings in Merck, McDonalds and Monsanto. Merk and Monsanto go hand in hand - genetically modified food of questionable safety and drugs to "help" those who eat the same food. Microsoft, Merck and Monsanto are nothing more than rent seekers for patents with Bill behind them. Like software, patents and food need a divorce. McDonald's is just an enabler.
If diversity of opinion is not welcome here, I'll know if my post is deleted.
The green folks, while they are all about saving whatever endngered small tasty animal dejour at the expense of humans. And as such are really anti-humanists and are all about propagating human misery.
Im confident if these green folks were in power 180 years ago, the central plains would still be covered with buffalo and the us would be a third world nation not able to produce enough food for its population.
It's no longer a matter of being considered "green"...it's now a matter of being considered "sane".
Calling people "whacky green folks"! Are you not an adult? I could just as easily refer to you as one of those environment-be-damned crazed lunatics who would do anything to make a buck. And where does that get us in terms of understanding Africa's problems and the ways that people are using to reduce its problems? Hint: nowhere.
My point was that we have starving, homeless people here, people who need medical care and all of those other glaring social issues, how dare we try to "fix" another nation's problems while remaining blind to our own. Of course, taking care of our home base isn't nearly as glamorous as pointing the finger somewhere else.
Africa needs much more, and deserves much more. Real change must be inclusive of all aspects of life for any true hope for the people and prosperity of Africa.
The desert regions are horrendous and starvation and disease will forever continue to wipe out generations forgotten throughout Africa. Because of man's desire to "modernize" and "facilitate", highways are now being built in reserve areas once protected against such modifications that serve to do nothing more than further destroy a country, a culture, it's environment and it's future.
The complete and total destruction of the land, water and air in Nigeria alone manifested by the greed of the oil companies and their third-party contractors has rendered the living conditions there to be extremely dangerous, let alone the ability to harvest or produce crops, food, or jobs. Nigeria's current President Goodluck Jonathan is to be commended for taking an aggressive approach to recognizing these disasters, and attempting to plot a course of remedial action. One man alone cannot fix the decades of abuse that have ultimately created the dysfunctional cycle of destruction that imperils and angers the people of Nigeria who have been forced to live this way.
If we don't get back to the root cause, history will continue to repeat itself, and the root cause in Nigeria is the oil industry.
The goal should not be to end all western involvement and resource development in Africa. Development isn't bad, but it must happen under terms created by the African countries. To do this effectively, African countries need to fix their governance problems. They need leaders who care about the people more than money and power. If corruption is stemmed, their governments can put restrictions in place to mitigate environmental impacts of resource development. And, like here in the US, some places must be put off limits to development altogether.