News: Fighting AIDS Needs Innovation, Gates Says
Software entrepreneur Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have focused increasing attention in recent years on philanthropic work, in particular addressing health issues in the developing countries of Africa and other continents. In his second annual letter to the public, excerpted here, Gates gives his take on the fight against HIV and AIDS: There is some encouraging news here. HIV isn't spreading as fast as it was. The number of new people getting infected with the virus peaked in 1996 at 3.5 million and was down to 2.7 million in 2008. Prevention efforts, like the foundation's work in India to get sex workers and their clients to use condoms more often, are part of the reason for this reduction. But 2.7 million is still 2.7 million too many, and in some places, the disease rate is still incredibly high. In South Africa, 18 percent of adults are infected, and in parts of the country more than half of the women are infected by the time they are in their mid-20s. The number of pe...