Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

gatesnotes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 108 posts

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#31

Post by piokoch »

deanclatworthy wrote: post #20

> Armed with this 50-cent test, community health workers with little training can determine in minutes with 99 percent accuracy whether someone has malaria or not. Last year, we deployed 200 million of them in Africa alone. I found this statement incredible. My perspective is from someone who had a Malaria scare after coming back from Asia this summer and passing through Krakow, Poland. I had numerous blood tests to…

Probably this is because tropical diseases are rather rare in Poland (not a big surprise). As far as I know the only place in Poland where you can find someone with practice and expertiese is Gdansk (big port in Poland) - they need to treat sailors occasionally.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#32

Post by nolok »

You have to respect the man's dedication.

He wanted his OS on every desktop computer and he may have played loose with the rules but he got his wish.

Now he wants this terrible disease to be destroyed, and there are a lot of obstacles in his way (and after all, destroying a well entrenched virus is a feat that humanity reached only once before), but still in my heart I feel like I wouldn't bet on the virus on that one.

With the money, prestige, experience and pull that he has he could be anything he wanted, and I for one am glad what he wants is to move humanity forward. Some say his time as CEO is done and now he is only playing the philanthropy game, but when you see talks from B.Gates on the matter it is clear that he is just as driven to that goal as he was during his CEO time, if not more. I think he likes the challenges, it drives him and he is one of the few who can tackle it head on, which ultimately will benefit everyone.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#35

Post by philh »

CmonDev wrote: post #14

Is his call for donation directed at specific people? I would gladly donate once I am in his position - own a house, have retirement funds etc. Which will probably take me another 30 years.

No, I think it's directed at anyone who can afford to donate, which probably includes you even though you don't own a house.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#36

Post by smartpants »

Complete Prevention means reducing opportunities for mosquitoes to pass the parasite on to humans, and preventing the emergence of strains that resist drugs and insecticides. We’ll need next-generation vaccines that block transmission for six months to a year, so that once an area is cleared of the parasite, it stays clear. We’ll also need new insecticides to offset the widespread emergence of mosquito resistance to the chemical compounds we use most frequently today. We may even need cutting-edge approaches, like introducing special fungi into mosquito populations to kill them off or introducing modified genes that can stop mosquitoes from reproducing.

there is actually a better solution, they just have to figure out the delivery mechanism.

Read more: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140610/ncomms4977/full/nco...

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/gm-mosquitos-c...

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#37

Post by skrebbel »

ekianjo wrote: post #26
ggreer wrote: post #5

Before the Gates Foundation and The Giving Pledge, billionaires usually did three things: 1. Buy fancy yachts. 2. Continue running the business that made them rich. 3. Spend a token amount on a feel-good charity. The Foundation to Prevent Euthanasia of Cute Puppies or Whatever. Gates has managed to convince them of another option: 4. Spend wealth to alleviate large causes of suffering that few/no groups are working o…

> Bill Gates is a living saint. Maybe he just feels he has a lot to give back after what he did in the business world ?

    1. Earn shitloads by monopolistically holding 
       back a decade of innovation in the rich west.
    2. Give all of it to the poor.
If anything, that sounds like Robin Hood to me, more than anything else.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#38

Post by ekianjo »

skrebbel wrote: post #37
ekianjo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Bill Gates is a living saint. Maybe he just feels he has a lot to give back after what he did in the business world ?

1. Earn shitloads by monopolistically holding back a decade of innovation in the rich west. 2. Give all of it to the poor. If anything, that sounds like Robin Hood to me, more than anything else.

1. innovation does not only benefit the "rich west" - computers are everywhere, man.

2. I doubt he has given "all" of his fortune to the poor.

3. Robin Hood is a legend.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#39

Post by skrebbel »

ekianjo wrote: post #38
skrebbel wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Earn shitloads by monopolistically holding back a decade of innovation in the rich west. 2. Give all of it to the poor. If anything, that sounds like Robin Hood to me, more than anything else.

1. innovation does not only benefit the "rich west" - computers are everywhere, man. 2. I doubt he has given "all" of his fortune to the poor. 3. Robin Hood is a legend.

1. Sure thing, but if you can choose between "faster computers" and "cure malaria" then I'd wager that's pretty easy - except of course when you're called Ray Kurzweil.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#40

Post by andreasvc »

__Joker wrote: post #15
ggreer wrote: post #5

Before the Gates Foundation and The Giving Pledge, billionaires usually did three things: 1. Buy fancy yachts. 2. Continue running the business that made them rich. 3. Spend a token amount on a feel-good charity. The Foundation to Prevent Euthanasia of Cute Puppies or Whatever. Gates has managed to convince them of another option: 4. Spend wealth to alleviate large causes of suffering that few/no groups are working o…

Yes, Gates believes that philanthropy can be part of solutions to alleviate social problems[1]. While most people don't agree to that, at least he is doing something one way or the other. [1] http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Why-Inequality-Matters-Capit...

I don't think most people have any opinion whatsoever about how social problems can be alleviated. What makes you think they would not not believe in philantropy's effectiveness? I have never heard such a claim.
Post reply on HN