Newsweek Cover Story Examines Work of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Fight Against HIV/AIDS
The Feb. 4 issue of Newsweek features a cover story on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a $24 billion fund to "save the poorest from disease" by funding international immunization projects and vaccine development for HIV and malaria. The "core" efforts of the fund -- the goal of which is to "bridge the most fundamental gap separating the poor countries of the world from the rich ones: the gap in human health" -- include a program to increase access in 74 countries to "traditional childhood vaccines," an effort to provide newly developed vaccines at affordable prices to the developing world and initiatives to develop AIDS and malaria vaccines. The Gateses, who in 1999 "made news around the world" when they "unveiled" a $750 million vaccine fund, now linked to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. The foundation also backs the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, along with a similar initiative for malaria vaccine research. The foundation also works to eliminate the "absurd obstacles to health" in developing countries, where a vaccine may be available but an infrastructure for its distribution is lacking (Cowley, Newsweek, 2/4). Melinda Gates' "immediate global health goals" include an AIDS vaccine and "swifter trials" for microbicides that could prevent STDs, including HIV, she said in an accompanying interview (Cowley, Newsweek, 2/4). The articles are available online.
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