The Impatient Optimists

Bill Gates' Annual Letter

   
 
   

  • Bill Gates meets with farmer Ram Udgar Yadav in his Basa, a temporary family shelter built in his field.

    My 2012 Annual Letter

    January 24, 2012 by Bill Gates

    My hope for my annual letter is that it helps people connect to the choice we all have to make. Relatively small investments changed the future for hundreds of millions of small farm families. The choice now is this: Do we continue those investments so that the 1 billion people who remain poor benefit? Or do we tolerate a world in which one in seven people is undernourished, stunted, and in danger of starving to death?

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Global Health

   
 
   

Global Development

   
 
   

U.S. Education

   
 
   

Polio

 

Polio Eradication in Action: Avoiding Complacency

January 27, 2012 / Ellyn Ogden

Polio Eradication in Action: Avoiding Complacency

Being in West Bengal, India on the anniversary of the country’s last polio case was extraordinary. The state Ministry of Health is very happy but ...

Full Post ›  India

Vaccines

 

GAVI, Public Private Partnerships and the World Economic Forum

January 27, 2012 / Seth Berkley, M.D.

GAVI, Public Private Partnerships and the World Economic Forum

The public-private partnership is part of the GAVI Alliance’s formula for success that has helped countries to immunise 325 million children in our ...

Full Post ›  Switzerland

HIV/AIDS

 

Reflections on HIV/AIDS in Tanzania

January 27, 2012 / Anne Marson

Reflections on HIV/AIDS in Tanzania

Dr. Christoph Benn reflects on working two decades ago as a doctor at Tanzania’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, a facility that had 100 beds to serve ...

Full Post ›  Tanzania

College-Ready Education (U.S.)

 

In Boosting Graduation Rates, It’s Not Just School Size that Matters

January 27, 2012 / Vicki Phillips

In Boosting Graduation Rates, It’s Not Just School Size that Matters

A new study shows that the students who attend "small" public high schools - those with about 100 students per grade - were more likely to graduate ...

Full Post ›  United States

Agricultural Development

 

What Does A "Day of Nutrition" Look Like?

January 26, 2012 / Ellen Piwoz

What Does A "Day of Nutrition" Look Like?

Today leaders gather to mobilize the global community around efforts to improve nutrition and the availability and accessibility of food (“food ...

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Family Homelessness (U.S.)

 

An Ambitious Plan to End Homelessness in Washington State

January 26, 2012 / Alice Shobe

An Ambitious Plan to End Homelessness in Washington State

In 2011, amidst continued economic stagnation, Washington State's Pierce County launched an ambitious plan to serve all populations experiencing ...

Full Post ›  United States

HIV/AIDS

 

Bill Gates Urges Donor Governments to Keep Investing in Global Fund

January 25, 2012 / Julie Bernstein

Bill Gates Urges Donor Governments to Keep Investing in Global Fund

Gates presents a stark choice to global leaders in his 2012 annual letter: Invest in global health and development partnerships, or risk letting ...

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HIV/AIDS

 

The Global Fund: Ten Years of Fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

January 25, 2012 / Joe Cerrell

The Global Fund: Ten Years of Fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

The Global Fund has become the most effective and efficient comprehensive health mechanism ever created.

Full Post ›  France

Family Planning

 

Philippines: Turning the Population Tide

January 25, 2012 / Sam Eaton

Philippines: Turning the Population Tide

In fishing villages in The Philippines, birth control is being embraced for family planning - and food security.

Full Post ›  Philippines


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See All › Last Thought

  • "The world faces a clear choice. If we invest relatively small amounts, many more poor farmers will be able to feed their families." —Bill Gates, 2012 Annual Letter

  • The Global Fund has helped to deliver more than 190 million bed nets to protect families from malaria.

  • In Senegal, 80% of households now have a bed net, helping the number of malaria cases there drop 50% in a single year.

  • "A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops." —Henry Adams

  • Skin-to-skin contact between mother and newborn within the first hour of birth can help prevent nutrient loss, encourage bonding, and establish a breastfeeding routine.

©2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation