Recently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has suffered some bad press. The non government organisation (NGO) has been accused of having a negative influence on research into killer diseases. The claim seems absurd. How can an organisation that in its eight years of existence has pumped $8b (Frw4,300b) into improving global health be doing harm? Surely an organisation can’t work too hard for the benefit of humanity, and no money devoted to the eradication of a deadly disease would be too much. Last month the chief of the malaria program at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Arata Kochi, complained to his boss, Margaret Chan, the director general of WHO, that the foundation’s money, while crucial, could have far-reaching, largely unintended consequences. Kochi believes that the excessive sway of the Gates Foundation is distorting research priorities and quashing independent thinking by sweeping up the best scientists and keeping them locked up in a cartel. And Kochi is not alone; many others have expressed concerns. There are worries that the Gates Foundation’s aim to eradicate malaria is unrealistic and that such over-reach diverts resources from the realistic aim of simply controlling the disease. Others believe that high-profile research is wrongly taking priority over the rather more mundane boosting of health systems. Tadataka Yamada, head of the Gates Foundation’s global health efforts, challenges the ‘eggs in one basket’ theory, stating quite frankly that the foundation can afford to do work towards eradication whilst simultaneously providing malaria nets and vaccines. It is clear that the Gates Foundation is putting backs up but could the gripes be the growls of a jealous crowd of bureaucrats and labourers at less influential charities? It seems an organisation with as much money as the foundation is bound to cause envy and resentment. But can anyone really afford to shun an organisation whose input of new money and ideas and whose battle against malaria and other deadly diseases is today, and will tomorrow, save lives throughout the world?Ends
