Comments on: Is Bill Gates' Quest to Eradicate Polio Worth the Money?

By: Hal

Hal — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:59:27 +0000

Mr Gates efforts should be applauded. As a polio survior, I have seen the devastation this crippling disease can do to people and their families in this country with a adaquate health system. It must be tens times worse in these other countries. I can only think that the people that think this a foolish effort were not here in the 40s and 50s and don’t the remember the fear that gripped this country then.

By: Magoonski

Magoonski — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:52:50 +0000

If you want to talk wasting money, let’s go count the number of cars, shoes, etc. that people buy in excess. Gates has the money and I’m sure the people who have the disease will appreciate the efforts to prevent it from happening to others.

By: nick

nick — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 03:07:22 +0000

Oh yeah, and to those who said “what about malaria?”

PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI): $456 million http://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/Pages/foundation-fact-sheet.aspx

Don’t worry, papa Bill got you too. Even with the newly announced donation, they’ve only put a million more into Polio. So dear Mr. Horton, go do some fund raising. A million can’t be that hard, and you’ll close the funding gap Bill left that concerns you so.

By: nick

nick — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 03:00:39 +0000

Smallpox.

Everyone else needs to shut the eff up and/or put their money where their mouths are. Just because these people are poor doesn’t mean they’re not worth it.

Once the polio is gone, on to malaria and measles. I mean, really, is it okay to say “screw that last 1%, we’re going on to these other diseases.” Do we continue those to 100%? “What? Oh, yes, of course, we’ll stop when we’re almost done with those, too.”

I’d be willing to bet that we heard the same arguments against finishing off the smallpox eradication. “They’re poor, not white, and what are they gonna do with their lives anyway?”

Eradicating diseases makes your country more prosperous. This is said of the smallpox eradication: “The US saves the total of all its contributions [$23M/yr contributed] every 26 days because it does not have to vaccinate or treat the disease.” http://www.cgdev.org/section/initiatives/_active/millionssaved/studies/case_1/

It doesn’t matter what the price is, the benefits for the world outweigh it. The US spent $900 billion [estimated... but that number is so big it hardly seems real anyway] through 2010 waging the war in Iraq. Just imagine what that money could have done for polio. And malaria. And measles. And could probably be enough to fund cures for some others I don’t know about.

By: AL

AL — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 02:19:32 +0000

I’m a physician, and “we” never thought we had TB under control. That is silly…

By: Douglas Watts

Douglas Watts — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:24:37 +0000

To be honest, these ‘critics’ should be willing to not get their kids vaccinated. Fair is fair.

By: Brian Too

Brian Too — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:29:16 +0000

Hey, we thought we had TB under control. Then it found vulnerable pockets of humanity and came back with a vengeance.

Seems to me that candidates for eradication required that there be no wild vectors? If the disease can persist in wild animals, insects or the like, or even in soil or water, then you have almost no chance. If it’s just people then you can achieve it.

I say gene sequence the organism so we know how it’s made (forever) then kill it dead.