Gates Donates $33M to Fight TB
Jacksonville - Thanks to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Chinese government has an extra $33-million to help prevent the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis. In addition to this hefty donation, Bill Gates has also provided a five-year grant towards this cause.
The founder/CEO of Microsoft publicly spoke in Beijing on Wednesday, stating that over 9 million people develop tuberculosis yearly. Nearly a quarter of these individuals die from respiratory complications. What Gates wants to target is the resistant strains of TB, which account for at least half a million of the cases worldwide.
Once an infection that could be adequately treated for over 50 years, this drug-resistant form may soon become commonplace in our century. Gates stressed in his speech that “sickness and death will multiply” due to the ever-growing drug-resistant TB. Treating this infection, Gates said, would cost up to “100 times more than treating regular TB,” and predicted the economic consequences as “catastrophic.”
In his speech, Gates expressed, “China is taking the threat of TB very seriously,” stating he is “very excited to support its efforts.” China is not the first country to appreciate the dire consequences of this resistant bug, which has had both vast economic and public health consequences for many developing countries worldwide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 55 countries have seen the effects of this newly developing strain of TB. The WHO Director-General Margaret Chan stated on Wednesday, “The situation is already alarming,” warning that it will only get quickly worse if not addressed appropriately. TB, an airborne disease, was declared a global public health emergency in 1993 by the WHO.
Mandated steps were implemented, however Chan attributes newly emerging drug resistance to “substandard treatment of normal TB.”
The funding was made possible through a newly formed partnership between Gates’ foundation and the Chinese Health Ministry. Newly developed therapy is projected to take form in twenty Chinese cities, treating nearly 50,000 patients yearly. In addition to medication, the funding and grant will present new diagnostic tests in six Chinese provinces, some of the world’s most prevalent locations for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
During the first two and a half years of the project, pilot tests will be launched, eventually concentrating on optimizing methods for diagnosis and curative treatment. In addition to this new project, the Chinese have also been sponsoring national research geared towards combating HIV/AIDS and TB by 2020.
I can’t help but admire Bill and Melinda Gates for using their resources and efforts to make this world a better place. http://www.BenefitStudio.com