Richard Gregory
2/27/09
12:45 PM
Even though Polio would seem as if it is a small problem globally considering only 2,000 people got polio last year while AIDS and malaria killed more than 3 million people. Polio is actually considered to be one of the least threatening global diseases. Since Polio isn’t really that big of problem why did Bill Gates and his foundation 255 million dollars to help fight against Polio. Most people say it’s because if we keep working towards this small problem of Polio we could actually eliminate it forever. The World Health Organization said they have eliminated pretty much all of the Polio cases and just have a little bit more to go, they just need the financial backing. You would think that money, especially 255 million dollars would be able to cure a small disease but actually it’s not money that is the problem. Polio spreads so quickly just through touch and contaminated food and water that it’s very hard to contain. The article goes on to say that only one in 200 children that get Polio receive the symptoms while the other 199 cases are “silent” killers.
I think that this is a great thing that Bill Gates is trying to do, even though I could see him doing it just for the prestige; “Bill Gates has ended Polio”, but maybe not, I don’t know him personally. It is good that a man with his wealth is putting it towards something good rather than more cars and bigger houses. I like the idea of the people trying to eliminate Polio of trying to do vaccinations in areas where they need it the most especially in Africa and India. The article went on to say that Nigeria and India governments don’t always cooperate, I’m guessing because they don’t care about it as much as Bill Gates and the World Health Organization. Those government’s would rather worry about something else than their own people dying.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/180968
It is cool to hear that someone such as Bill Gates would invest the money to end a small but still terrible disease. It's terrible, however, to hear that often times governments don't always want to cooperate. Bettering heath care should be a major goal for all nations.
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