Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind

Bill Gates and his wife Melinda plan to donate 10 billion dollars over the next decade to develop and deliver vaccinations to developing nations worldwide. Over the past 10 years, they have already given 4.5 billion to the same cause, but plan to double that due to the increased need.

Their goal is to increase the amount of vaccination coverage to 90 percent within that 10 year time frame. By accomplishing this, they hope to save nearly 7.6 million children under the age of five who would’ve otherwise perished from highly curable diseases.

The GAVI alliance, an organization that the Gates family has been largely responsible for creating, has seen much success so far. Portions of the world that seemingly had no hope are now in a much better position to protect themselves from disease. Some cities in Malawi are now supplied with enough vaccinations to put them on par with some western cities.

Bill Gates hopes that the money he has promised to fund vaccines will help greatly reduce or entirely eliminate diseases like rotavirus, pneumonia, and even the mosquito-born killer, malaria.

It’s comforting to see someone in such a high financial position focusing on problems that affect those far less fortunate. It’s one thing to be the richest man in the world. It’s a completely different thing when you use that to become one of the world’s greatest philanthropists as well.

To read the original article, please go to http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60S3K420100129