THE Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged a total of US$5 billion to support health activities especially HIV/AIDS in Africa to be spent in the next five years.
This is in addition to the more than $9 billion that the Foundation has released to Africa in the last 15 years.
Well, I was privileged last week on July 17, to be one of the more than 3,000 guests that attended a lecture by Bill Gates himself during the 14th Nelson Mandela Foundation annual address at the University of Pretoria, Mamelodi Campus in South Africa where he emphasised on the need for a healthy universe if any meaningful development is to be achieved.
In his own words, Mr Gates said: “We’ve put a lot of money into discovering and developing new and better vaccines and drugs to help prevent and treat the diseases of poverty. We’ve also invested in global partnerships that work closely with countries across the continent to get these solutions to the people who need them most.
“We’ve been fortunate to work with amazing partners and, together, we have seen some incredible progress. The entire continent of Africa has been polio-free for two years, which puts us within reach of wiping polio from the face of the earth . . . forever.
“The newest vaccines that protect children from two of the most devastating diseases – pneumonia and severe diarrheoa – are reaching children across Africa at the same time they’re available for children in wealthier countries.”
As usual, Mr Gates speech was inspiring and even as he prepared himself to go and address yet another important gathering, the International AIDS Conference, two days later, this time around in Durban, he spoke passionately about the importance of good health for the children, the youth and adults.
He said primary health care was important for African nations and that while the fight against HIV/AIDS should not relent, it was vital to tackle killer diseases such as malaria.
Mr Gates was happy that tremendous progress were being achieved in many African countries in health issues saying that currently there were at least 12 million people in Africa receiving HIV treatment and a quarter of these are in South Africa.
“AIDS is another area where there’s been good progress – though it’s a more complicated story and there are big challenges ahead. In a few days, I’ll be speaking at the International AIDS conference in Durban.
“When the global AIDS community last met there in 2000, only a few thousand Africans were receiving antiretroviral drugs. Today, more than 12 million Africans are on treatment – more than a quarter of them living here in South Africa.
“But the rate of new infections remains high. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 2,000 young people under the age of 24 are newly infected every single day. The number of young people dying from HIV has increased fourfold since 1990.
“There are other challenges. Almost half of the people living with HIV are undiagnosed. Millions more aren’t being treated. And millions of people who *are* receiving treatment aren’t able to stay on it. Add to this the high rates of tuberculosis among people living with HIV, including here in South Africa where TB/HIV co-infection continues to wage a devastating toll.
“So we need more creative ways to make testing and treatment accessible and easier to use. We need to get much more out of existing prevention methods like condoms, voluntary medical male circumcision, and oral anti-HIV medicine.
“And we’re going to need new and better prevention solutions – like an effective vaccine and medicines that people are more likely to use consistently.
“If we fail to act, all the hard-earned gains made in HIV in sub-Saharan Africa over the last 15 years could be reversed, particularly given that Africa’s young people are entering the age when they are most at risk of HIV.”
Mr Gates says nutrition is another critical area of focus for Africa. Nearly one third of the continent’s children suffer from malnutrition that stunts their growth and development and robs them of their physical and cognitive potential.
Millions more suffer from micronutrient deficiencies.
These are impacts that last a lifetime and impact whole generations of Africa’s youth.
African Development Bank President Akin Adesina put it best when he said recently that the greatest contributor to Africa’s economic growth is not physical infrastructure, but “gray matter infrastructure” – people’s brainpower.
The best way to build that infrastructure is with proper nutrition.
Well, I can go on and on and on quoting Mr Gates who is the co-founder of Microsoft in 1975 at the age of 19 and a Philanthropist. But due to limited space, I thought I should limit this article to health issues only.
I pen off by thanking the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for extending an invitation to me to attend the lecture which was also attended by among others, Gracia Machel and Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Foundation Professor Njabulo Ndebele, and later a Press conference addressed by Mr Gates.
For comments on health issues especially HIV/AIDS don’t hesitate to contact me on +260955883143 or write to knoxngoma@gmail.com