We announced in an earlier post that Kiwanis International is currently searching for the next World Service Project, and that the Global Network is one of the top three finalists.

Kiwanis has set up a website where people can go and view all of the finalists, watch videos, and join the discussion on what the next worldwide service project should be.

If the Global Netowork is chosen, the impact that  a project of this scale and magnitude could have on controlling and eliminating NTDs worldwide is HUGE. 

The Global Network’s proposal  is to ensure that the more than 1 billion children born between 2003 and 2020 journey into adulthood as the first generation to grow and thrive without the burden of NTDs.

Please vote for the Global Network on the poll listed on the website!   

To read the  full press release please click here

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, published his second annual letter on the foundation website yesterday recounting his experiences and reflections from his first year of working full-time on Foundation business.  The letter highlighted the foundation’s achievements in 2009 and its goals for the new year. 

In his letter, Gates reminds us all that, while significant gains have been made in recent years in global health, 2009 was a particularly difficult year due to the tough economic climate and the world’s poorest people were impacted disproportionately by the downturn. The economic downturn has and will continue to exacerbate existing health problems, including the control of neglected tropical diseases.   Although the economy is still weak, Gates is “very optimistic about the progress we can make in the years ahead.”  Throughout the letter, Gates cites innovation as an important step in improving global health noting that “a combination of scientific innovations and great leaders who are working on behalf of the world’s poorest people will continue to improve the human condition.” 

Innovation, he stressed, is underinvested by donors, especially with regards to innovations that benefit the world’s poor.  The disenfranchised often do not garner high levels of investment because of their inability to generate market demand.  Gates writes that “if we project what the world will be like 10 years from now without innovation in health, education, energy, or food, the picture is quite bleak.”  He envisions the role of the Gates Foundation to be a place where higher risk innovations can be explored and invested in projects and programs that otherwise may not receive adequate funding and attention.  Overall, the Foundation backs over thirty innovations ranging from online learning techniques to vaccine and seed development.   Such investments have yielded tremendous results including a decrease in childhood deaths; improvements in vaccine efficacy and coverage; increased usage of insecticide treated bed nets to combat malaria; decreased transmission rates of HIV; increased availability of antiretroviral therapy; improvements in U.S. public education and increased agricultural productivity. 

For all of the successes that have been achieved, Gates acknowledges “there is significant risk that aid budgets will either be cut or not increase much” due to the current global financial situation.  A continued commitment to global health will be necessary to ensure health as a human right and improve quality of life for the world’s poor. 

In addition to the publication of annual letters, joining twitter and the creation of a new website  will allow Gates to share his thoughts on the Foundation activities and personal reflections from his trips and other areas of interests.  

Looking forward, 2010 should be an interesting year in global health.  The Sabin Vaccine Institute is excited to be working with the Gates Foundation towards similar innovations that will help to eliminate neglected tropical diseases and their burden on the disenfranchised.

Number #1 on our reading list today is Bill Gates’  highly anticipated annual letter. This is the second annual letter that Gates has written and we will be sure to share some thoughts on it in our next post, so stay tuned!

1. Bill Gates’ Annual Letter, Bill Gates, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
2. Study Points to Disease as Main Killer in Darfur, Donald McNeil, New York Times
3. Novartis Targets 3-Foot-Long Gut Worm in Neglected-Disease Fund, Simeon Bennett, BusinessWeek
4. Tax and Spend: U.N.’s Rx for New World Medical Order, George Russell, Foxnews.com
5. Surge of Haiti Donations Could Bolster Some International Groups, While Others Struggle to Meet Needs, Caroline Preston, Chronicle of Philanthropy
6. Bill Gates worries climate money robs health aid, Bill Rigby, Reuters