2002 Annual Report - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Year in Review
BY PATTY STONESIFER,CO-CHAIR & PRESIDENT
Patty Stonesifer interacts with
Senegalese youth who are
promoting good health in their
villages and communities. She
This year the foundation made grants to nearly holds a calabash, a traditional
instrument representing
2,000 organizations working to improve global
health, fertility, and life.
health, education in the United States, public
access to digital information, and the lives of vulnerable families in the Pacific
Northwest. Seeing first-hand the work that individuals and organizations are
doing to improve the lives of those around them, reinforced my conviction
that positive change is possible and tangible. In Senegal, Cleveland, Seattle,
and other places across the globe, we’re moving toward a different world.
In Senegal I spoke with prostitutes living with HIV who shared deeply personal
stories of how economic necessity and lack of access to means of prevention
brought the virus to their door. Today, they receive regular HIV
screenings and counseling on how to protect themselves and others from the
disease. And many are passing this information along to their friends.
Multiplied across the country, these efforts are part of the reason why
Senegal has kept its HIV prevalence rate under 1 percent.
During this trip, I also met a young girl named Absa Sey. Crippled by polio
since she was 8 months old, Absa was abused and ostracized for suffering
from a disease that is entirely preventable. She is one of hundreds of young,
often illiterate women learning about the value of basic health through one of
our grantees, Tostan. Frequently over the radio airwaves, Absa shares this
knowledge with the public, hoping that Senegal’s unprotected children will
receive the vaccinations they need against measles, tuberculosis, and other
life-threatening diseases.
Experiences like these make it clear that more needs to be done to ensure
that people in the developing world have equal opportunities for a healthy
life. The foundation’s Global Health program continues to support the development
and testing of new vaccines and drugs for preventing the spread of
HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, and a range of other diseases disproportionately
affecting the poor. While we would rejoice if the discovery and development
of these new technologies—such as vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics—would
ensure they are deployed around the world, we are finding that is far from
the truth. Many critical and inexpensive interventions—including vaccines or
oral rehydration salts—have taken decades or longer to reach those who
need them most. This fact has led to a dramatic increase in our efforts to
ensure financing for the rollout of these tools by partnering with governments
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