Bill Gates is adding $250 million to the purse of his foundation?s program that funds projects aimed at finding a remedy to deadly illnesses like malaria and tuberculosis. The Microsoft founder made his decision known during the opening of the annual World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva. More than 10,000 proposals from scientists in over 70 countries flooded the Gates Foundation following the announcement of the Grand Challenges in Global Health program in 2003. The charity hopes to award its first grant under the $450 milion initiative this summer.
According to Gates, "the world is failing billions of people." He urged rich nations to step up their aid towards combating diseases in the developing world and argued for the need to boost public spending on health by poor countries. The world?s richest man is pushing for the creation of the International Finance Facility for Immunization, a $4 billion scheme to finance vaccines for destitute countries.
Sources:
Gates Foundation Increases Grants for Health Research (The Wall Street Journal)
Optimistic Gates doubles funds for disease research (Reuters)
