Gates Foundation

There’s no hope for the world, right? Actually, according to Bill and Melinda Gates, there’s not only a lot of hope, but a large amount of measurable progress that has been achieved in the last half century in terms of eradicating world poverty and tackling economic inequality. They’re authorities worth listening to. Since its launch in 2000, The Gates Foundation has been ambitious and effective in its approach to tackling (in particular) some of the worst health inequalities in the world. In this year’s annual letter they explore three key myths that they believe are blocking progress for the poor. Namely:

1. Poor countries are doomed to stay poor

“So the easiest way to respond to the myth that poor countries are doomed to stay poor is to point to one fact: They haven’t stayed poor. Many—though by no means all—of the countries we used to call poor now have thriving economies. And the percentage of very poor people has dropped by more than half since 1990.”- Bill Gates

2. Foreign aid is a big waste

“What we see over time is people living longer, getting healthier, and escaping poverty, partly because of services that aid helped develop and deliver.”- Bill Gates

3. Saving lives leads to overpopulation

“It may be counterintuitive, but the countries with the most deaths have among the fastest-growing populations in the world. This is because the women in these countries tend to have the most births, too. Scholars debate the precise reasons why, but the correlation between child death and birth rates is strong.”- Melinda Gates

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Personally, I found the third myth the most interesting. Population growth is an uncomfortable subject to probe. It’s empowering to know that there is a correlation between reduced death rates and reduced birth rates. Think about that for a second. It means that you could make a case that saving lives reduces population. It also means that the argument that we should let people die because the world can’t sustain all the humans simply doesn’t stand.

There are some great stats, arguments and ideas in the article, so please, treat yourself to a proper sit-down and read the whole thing.

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