Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, upset some health officials when he asked six or seven years ago about the possibility of performing autopsies on babies to figure out why they were dying.
The anecdote appears in the Gates Foundation’s 2017 annual letter, released on Wednesday, and it points to just how data driven the billionaire philanthropist is in his approach to fighting disease and reducing inequality.
“Here was this black hole of health understanding, and they acted as if it would be impolite to find out more,” Bill wrote.
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About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
