To Wake Up the World About Malaria, Bill Gates Releases Mosquitoes
Seattle - One might think that the man behind the most popular computer operating system in the world might be the last person you’d expect to use bugs to prove a point. Most people in the computing world try to avoid “bugs” at all costs.
However, when your name is Bill Gates and you’ve pledged more than $168 million to develop a malaria vaccine, releasing a swarm of mosquitoes on an unsuspecting public can be forgiven. Especially when you assure that shocked audience that the tiny flying insects, now moving about the crowd and looking for a good place to dine, are malaria free.
In one of his most shocking moves since joining Apple founder Steve Jobs on stage via satellite to announce a new spirit of cooperation between the longtime rivals, Gates was on stage talking about malaria eradication at the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference in Long Beach, California when he removed the top of a jar filled with mosquitoes. Several members of the micro-blogging service Twitter were in the audience, and they reported on the event as it happened. Gates reportedly said, “Not only poor people should experience this,” as he released the insects.
Gates announced in September that his foundation would donate more than $168 million dollars to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative in the effort to find a vaccine. Although mostly eradicated in temperate climates, malaria is still common in tropical and subtropical areas, particularly central Africa and southeast Asia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that worldwide up to 500 million people are infected with the disease, and more than a million will die from it.
After releasing the mosquitoes at the conference known for drawing politicians and a good share of the Hollywood crowd as well as those in the technology business, Gates showed a flair for the dramatic, as well as a playful side, when he waited a full minute before assuring those in the audience that the insects did not carry the disease. Quipping that more money is spent on baldness eradication than malaria prevention, Gates then noted that because baldness affects the rich, it is given a disproportionate priority.
Gates again stressed the need for mosquito netting and other protective gear in areas where malaria is still widespread. A malaria vaccine sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is still in the testing stages, but Gates said that it is scheduled to begin Phase Three testing later this year.