Oct 15, 2004
The Good Guys Aren't in Government
Tired of hearing about what's wrong with the wealthy from Kerry et.al? Sick of all the lies from government officials about all the good they do? Take some solace in this piece from the New York Times about significant progress in the search for a malaria vaccine (there's also copy of the press release at the MVI webpage for those of you who don't want to do the NYT registration thing). Guess who's underwriting the search for a vaccine? Bill Gates. Yes a nasty capitalist, not some big government initiative.
Malaria kills 700,000 children every year. Gates' Foundation has made tremendous strides in a short time in treating and preventing the disease, and my guess is that we'll see a viable vaccine within our lifetimes. The impact of having that burden lifted from Africa is incalculable. It would be a huge gift to humanity in one of the world's most troubled corners. Just another example of a capitalist doing well and doing good (to borrow shamelessly from my friends at PERC).