Bill Gates Says Eradicating Polio Is Foundation’s Top Priority
January 26, 2012, 5:43 AM ESTBy Jason Gale
Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Bill Gates, chairman and co-founder of Microsoft Corp., said improving polio vaccination campaigns in Nigeria, Chad and three other countries will be the biggest focus for his philanthropic foundation in 2012.
The billionaire said the eradication of polio remains the top priority of the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The other countries requiring additional assistance are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said.
“We are continuing to invest in studies about how polio spreads and trying to model where we need to intensify the vaccination campaigns,” Gates, 56, said in his annual letter, which was posted on the foundation’s website today. “We are also working on new vaccines. Finding every last poliovirus requires good tools along with trained and motivated workers in every single country.”
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Gale at j.gale@bloomberg.net
