Flipping through the channels while sitting on the hotel bed, I come to a stop when I saw Bill Gates. It was on BBC News and it was a discussion of his philanthropy well his recent donation of $1 billion to fund for vaccinations in LEDCs. There sat the head honcho of some pharmaceutical company, a representative from the Rwandan government and critics from MSF and World Development.
Anyway, after watching about 10-15 minutes of it - I really began to think about the integrity of what Mr. Gates is financing. As much as his intention as stated was to reduce the figure of child mortality. Yes, vaccinations is one of the steps towards stopping high child mortality rates suffered in LEDCs. However, it is not the first. As the WD critic pointed out there are other factors that contribute to the cycle of poverty including speculative trade, land grabs, etc.
Over the past decades the twin peak theory has held true and the valley between the peaks continues to grow. The pharmaceutical company that Mr. Gates pledged is going to be gaining $7 per unit, ironic? (I'm not sure if that was the exact figure, I was deep in thoughts and wasn't listening very carefully!)
Large Corporations running everything again. We can all be idealists - nothing is in that framework just yet.
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