Practice News Story 9: Investigative

Gates and Turner Meet with WHO to Fight HIV in Africa

Posted: 1:05 p.m. MST, March 29, 2007

LOGAN, Utah—Bill and Melinda Gates, founders of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, met last Wednesday, March 21, 2007, with Ted Turner and the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Margaret Chan, to discuss possible solutions to end HIV and AIDS in Africa.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation helps bring education and the eradication of diseases around the world. When asked about the plans he has to help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa, Gates replied by saying that Africa is the perfect place to put both processes of the Foundation to work. Along with bringing awareness and research to find a cure for HIV and AIDS, the Foundation also works with the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, which was created to speed up HIV vaccine research. As with Bill and Melinda Gates, this is not Turner’s first time fighting against HIV and AIDS in Africa. Back in December 2000, Turner pledged $12 million to help defeat the deadly virus throughout the continent.

"We think we can come together and really make a difference," Gates replied when asked about his partnership with Turner. He said that both the Gates Foundation and Turner are going to be working with Dr. Chan and the WHO to discuss how they want to go about eradicating HIV on a global level.

“There is no deal yet,” said Chan after being asked about her plans with Gates and Turner. Chan, who has been working with the WHO since 2003, started fighting against the spread of disease as the Director of Health of Hong Kong to help fight against illnesses in China such as avian influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Chan is very excited to begin work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ted Turner to fight against HIV. She stated that working with people such as Bill Gates, Ted Turner, and Warren Buffet "really makes my organization effective and worthwhile." No word yet on what the plan of action will be.