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We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

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Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#91

Post by StavrosK »

sadkingbilly wrote: post #90
StavrosK wrote: post #74

Is there any way to eradicate mosquitoes completely? Are they useful for anything? They're just a huge nuisance and carriers of disease, why haven't we managed to get rid of them by now? We're apparently pretty great at making species go extinct, just not the ones we want.

Mosquitoes are a food source for many animals, including: fish, birds, spiders, and bats. Maybe those animals could find something else to eat, but there sure are a lot of mosquitoes - imagine how many get eaten.

Are you sure? An article I read said that mosquitoes are so lean that they aren't even worth the energy expenditure of hunting them.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#92

Post by Cowicide »

tptacek wrote: post #82
Cowicide wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've provided sources of evidence to back this up here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8551072 If you have sources of evidence that can sufficiently contradict my own and show that Gates has been an overall net gain instead of an overall net drain for society, I'd sincerely like to review it.

Thanks; this confirms my interpretation of your original comment. You're imputing the economic value of every externality you can trace to Microsoft back to Gates' own bank account. You can make that argument, but using "his plunder" as a shorthand for it is at the very least imprecise.

>You're imputing the economic value of every externality you can trace to Microsoft back to Gates' own bank account.

Not really, I'm much more focused on the externalities of Gates' anti-competitive, monopolistic business practices. His billionaire status is just a small part of the problem in comparison. Speaking of which, I am also looking at the specific assets that makes up his total net worth.

For example, as of now, Bill Gates has a net worth of nearly $82 billion, of which just $14 billion is in Microsoft stock. The bulk of the remainder is $64 billion which is invested in a variety of assets through Cascade Investment LLC, his private investment firm.

Cash, some small technology investments and assets such as his 66,000 square-foot mansion in Medina make up the last $4 billion chunk which is very small in comparison.

I've been researching how his assets both positively and negatively affect society but it pales in comparison to the bigger picture I mentioned in regards to the overall effects of his shady, past business practices that affected society globally (literally).

>You can make that argument, but using "his plunder" as a shorthand for it is at the very least imprecise.

I see your point. He certainly didn’t steal all of it and I should use a better choice of word to describe his booty. ;)

However, I was considering that he's taken far more from society than he's provided for society, so that's why I've called it "plunder", so to speak.

The final report won't have any of that kind of terminology, but as you said, it's probably better if I refrain from using it even it's simply in forum posts, etc.

Thank you for your constructive criticism.

edit: spelling/grammar

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#93

Post by shostack »

This may be a dumb question, but are there any downsides to eradicating malaria?

While there is obviously a huge immediate benefit for humanity in doing so, is there any impact on the ecosystem, or other factors that this could upset the balance of?

Again, not saying we shouldn't eradicate it, just curious if there are any potential negative consequences.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#94

Post by melling »

gohrt wrote: post #88
melling wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the trick there is to create a better economy, right? The standard of living will increase then. What are the most effective ways to prevent malaria is to give people $20 nets.

$4 nets!* http://www.againstmalaria.com/DollarsPerNet.aspx * (plus shipping and handling)

It looks like $3.

melling@Hacker News just bought 10 nets.

http://www.againstmalaria.com/MyNets.aspx?DonationID=111536

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#95

Post by [deleted] »

shostack wrote: post #93

This may be a dumb question, but are there any downsides to eradicating malaria? While there is obviously a huge immediate benefit for humanity in doing so, is there any impact on the ecosystem, or other factors that this could upset the balance of? Again, not saying we shouldn't eradicate it, just curious if there are any potential negative consequences.

[deleted]

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#96

Post by spikels »

jnbiche wrote: post #42
nolok wrote: post #32

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 on…

>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. Correction: malaria is not a virus. It is one of 4 different species of protozoa (type of single-celled organism).

Slight clarification: there are 4 COMMON species of the malaria parasite that are known infect HUMANS. Also known are around 10 rarer species that also infect humans and a few hundreds that infect other animals.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#97

Post by chm »

melling wrote: post #83
chm wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what he wants to do is bring the afflicted regions up to par with what one expects from life in the western world, in terms of health. That's very important.

Well, the trick there is to create a better economy, right? The standard of living will increase then. What are the most effective ways to prevent malaria is to give people $20 nets.

But his goal is to eradicate it, not only prevent it. Preventing is a step towards his goal.

I'm not at all convinced that a higher standard of living inevitably leads to lower malaria infections. I actually think the correlation is rather weak, at least in the initial part of eradicating/battling the disease.

I agree with you that controlling the disease by having a stable, efficient and proactive health care system requires a solid economy. I just don't think that's where the problem lies for the moment.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#98

Post by lmkg »

melling wrote: post #83
chm wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what he wants to do is bring the afflicted regions up to par with what one expects from life in the western world, in terms of health. That's very important.

Well, the trick there is to create a better economy, right? The standard of living will increase then. What are the most effective ways to prevent malaria is to give people $20 nets.

Turns out... one of the easiest ways to create a better economy is to eliminate malaria. It's that bad of a disease, that it contributes to poverty at the national level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria#Economic_impact

It's more difficult to expand and modernize your economy when a significant fraction of your population contracted mild brain damage from preventable infections.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#99

Post by ggchappell »

melling wrote: post #67
nolok wrote: post #32

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 on…

Why not advance medicine in general, moving civilization quicker up the technology curve? Won't more people benefit in the long run? Medicine doesn't advance at an exponential rate, but progress can be made more quickly.

> Why not advance medicine in general ....

I think big, specific challenges are often the best way to move useful knowledge forward. They can be enormously motivating, and they very often have positive side effects in seemingly unrelated areas.

For example, consider the Manhattan Project and the U.S. efforts to get people to the Moon. Both of these were highly focused projects. But they resulted in advancements in computing, materials science (e.g., plastics), fail-safe engineering, etc.

Or consider all the money poured into AIDS research in the past couple of decades. Results have been somewhat disappointing, but OTOH we now know a lot now about the human immune system, etc.

I would expect that a global effort to eradicate malaria would have similar wide-ranging benefits.

Re: We Can Eradicate Malaria Within a Generation

#100

Post by mchusma »

ggchappell wrote: post #99
melling wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not advance medicine in general, moving civilization quicker up the technology curve? Won't more people benefit in the long run? Medicine doesn't advance at an exponential rate, but progress can be made more quickly.

> Why not advance medicine in general .... I think big, specific challenges are often the best way to move useful knowledge forward. They can be enormously motivating, and they very often have positive side effects in seemingly unrelated areas. For example, consider the Manhattan Project and the U.S. efforts to get people to the Moon. Both of these were highly focused projects. But they resulted in advancements in co…

I agree with your points in general, but I think your point on AIDS is off. In the developed world, AIDS can be treated and managed effectively at this point to where it is essentially a long term chronic illness like diabetes. This is a huge departure from the terrifying death sentence it was in the 80s. Of course, these treatments are not accessible enough yet...
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