Bill Gates to Donate $500 Million for Malaria, Other Diseases

Washington – Bill Gates, a world renown US philanthropist, on Sunday said he will donate over $500 million to help fight malaria and other infectious diseases in the developing world, saying the Ebola outbreak is a call to action, report said.

A statement said the former Microsoft CEO told the 63rd annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans that his Gates Foundation is committing more than $500 million in 2014 “to reduce the burden of malaria, pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and an array of parasitic infections that are leading causes of death and disability in developing countries.”

Reports said Gates also announced that his foundation has boosted its annual funding for malaria by 30 percent.

Gates, in his prepared remarks, described the Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 4,900 people in West Africa since the beginning of the year as a “critical moment in the history of global health,” and said the world’s largest outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever underscores the need for stronger efforts to stay ahead of disease threats such as drug-resistant malaria and dengue fever.

“The Ebola epidemic has shown, once again, that in today’s interconnected world, health challenges anywhere create health challenges everywhere — and the best way to overcome those challenges is to dedicate ourselves to the great cause of reducing the global burden of infectious disease,” e said.

Report said the Gates Foundation announced in September a $50-million commitment to help scale up efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak.

Source: GMA News online