In the next 20 years, Gates believes that progress will be “incredible.”
“This is a miraculous moment,” he told me, with the most exciting work that the Foundation has performed in the R. & D. now, waiting to be delivered.
It was almost difficult to maintain its survey on advances: on HIV, on tuberculosis, but also on darker and careless diseases such as lymphatic filariasis and visceral leishmaniasis. He predicts that maternal mortality rates in the world of development become approximately parity with those of the rich world, and that childhood deaths could be cut in half.
But in the short term, Gates predicts that infant mortality will increase in the Trump term, and not by a little.
Given the various cuts imposed by the Trump administration, Gates says he hopes that infant mortality will increase in one million additional deaths per year.
He was surprised by the amplitude of the court of foreign aid and puts the future childhood deaths in the hands of Elon Musk.
“The richest man in the world has been involved in the death of the poorest children in the world,” Gates told me, who exhibited a rare explosion of real anger for the cuts for USAID, “he put in the wooden splinter, because he did not go to not go, not to go not to go to not go to not go to not go.”
Those cuts, he says, were much larger than I expected:
I thought there would be, as, a 20 percent cut. On the other hand, at this time, it is like a cut of 80 percent. And yes, I didn’t expect that. I don’t think anyone would have expected that. No one expected the executive branch to reduce Pepfar or Polio money without the participation of the Congress. What is happening with HIV investigation and trial networks, didn’t expect it either.
It is not only America: other rich nations leaders are pressing their help budgets.
“Take Keir Starmer,” Gates told me.
A day before it is supposed to fly and see Trump, and he says, Oh, my God, I have to show that we take defense spending seriously. It is in some meetings saying: OK, how increases defense expense from 2.1 percent to 2.3 percent? And someone says we could reduce the help budget from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent. Nobody says, hey, what about those children who won’t receive vaccines?
Gates calls a ‘magic wand’.
Through our conversation, he returned again and again to the promises of AI, not only in the area of drug discovery, but as part of a better delivery mechanism, to ensure that those needed can access the powerful tools of the world.
