Thread by @dadiomov

This is an amazing read. The world is better off because Bill and Melinda are so focused on improving it, on a scale almost unimaginable, except that it is real.

gatesnotes.com/2020-Annual-Le…

"When we first started working in global health, we were shocked to learn how many children in low-income countries were still dying from diseases that could have been prevented.

By 2019, Gavi had helped vaccinate more than 760 million children and prevent 13 million deaths."

"Today, 86% of children around the world receive basic immunizations. That’s more than ever before. But reaching the last 14 percent is going to be much harder than reaching the first 86 percent. The children in this group are some of the most marginalized children in the world."

"Some of them live in fragile states where conflict prevents the health system from working well for anyone. Others live in remote rural areas. Frustratingly, some live just a few hundred meters from a health facility but are invisible to the health system."

"Our work on vaccines has parallels with another area we’ve been heavily involved with: HIV and AIDS.

In 2018 alone, nearly 19 million people received lifesaving HIV treatment in countries where the organization invests."

"Our foundation is also focused on longer-lasting treatment options. Thanks to major advances, an HIV-positive person receiving treatment now has the same expected lifespan as someone without HIV."

"Global health will always be a core focus of our foundation. This work will only become more important in the future, as climate change makes more people susceptible to disease.... we will continue to support progress on other diseases, like malaria, tuberculosis, and polio."

"Improvements in health are key to lifting people out of poverty. As people become healthier, their lives improve in other ways. And the world becomes better and more equal as a result."

"Success in America is a complex equation with too many variables to count—race, gender, your ZIP code, your parents’ income levels—but education is an incredibly important part of that equation."

"If you’d asked us 20 years ago, we would have guessed that global health would be our foundation’s riskiest work, and our U.S. education work would be our surest bet. In fact, it has turned out just the opposite."

"The average American primary school classroom has 21 students. Currently, 18 of those 21 complete high school with a diploma or an equivalent credential, but...only seven will earn a degree from a four-year-program within six years."

"The last 20 years have only deepened our commitment to advancing progress on global health and public education. But we’ve also developed a major sense of urgency around two other issues. For Bill, it’s addressing climate change. For me, it’s gender equality."

"That phenomenon we witnessed—which is called “energy poverty”—is a real problem for 860 million people around the world. Our modern world is built on electricity. Without it, you are (quite literally) left in the dark."

"Two facts quickly became clear. First, the world would become a richer, healthier, and more equitable place if everyone had reliable access to electricity. Second, we need to find a way to make that happen without contributing to climate change."

"People all over the world are already being affected by a warmer world. Those impacts will only get worse in the years to come. The cruel irony is that the world’s poorest people, who contribute the least to climate change, will suffer the worst."

"Over a decade ago, we began funding research into drought- and flood-tolerant varieties of staple crops like maize and rice. These new varieties are helping farmers grow more food in some parts of Africa and India, and more climate-smart crop options will become available."

"In developing countries, the experiences of boys and girls start dramatically diverging in adolescence. The average girl in sub-Saharan Africa ends her education with two fewer years of schooling than the average boy. One in five girls is married before her 18th birthday."

"If we miss another opportunity, we risk contributing to a dangerous narrative that inequality between men and women is inevitable. We need to be loud and clear that the reason these problems look unsolvable is that we’ve never put the necessary effort into solving them."

"I’ve also been working to advance women’s power and influence in the U.S. through Pivotal Ventures. Last October, I announced that Pivotal Ventures will commit $1 billion to accelerate gender equality in the U.S. over the next decade.

My message is simple: Equality can’t wait."

"When Bill’s mom spoke at our wedding, she said something we’ll always remember: “Your lifetime together will, in the end, be a verdict on your recognition of the extraordinary obligations which accompany extraordinary resources.”

"Our role as philanthropists is not only to take risks that support innovation but to work with our partners to overcome the challenges of scale in delivering it. We believe that progress should benefit everyone, everywhere."