Skip to content

Bill Gates and John Green Discuss Progress

2014-09-29 · collab / interview · John, Bill Gates · 3:07 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: guest or collab, recurring series, heavy topic, on location

In a bonus conversation, Bill Gates tells John that after smallpox the focus is polio, then malaria; that good inventions must be matched to poor countries' needs; that capitalism's windfalls should go where a dollar saves most lives; and that Ethiopia's falling child death and its 2025 middle-income goal are a largely untold positive story.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Gates: the focus is now polio, after smallpox was certified in 1980; polio hoped by 2018, then a malaria plan

  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates says the disease they are now focused on is polio; the world officially finished smallpox in 1980, when the certificate was signed. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates hopes to get polio certified eradicated by 2018; the credibility and energy from that would let them take new tools and go after a malaria plan. (hedged) — 00:00:10 · malaria

00:00:22 — The P6 'keg of life': a slow-leaking thermos for the cold-chain problem; matching good ideas to big needs is imperfect

  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates says inventions often go unrecognized as useful for poor countries: slow-leaking thermoses were invented about 15 years ago, yet nobody applied them to the cold-chain problem. — 00:00:27 · extreme poverty
  • ★★ Bill Gates: Gates says poor countries lack electricity and kerosene and propane are expensive and unreliable; they built the first device about a year ago and units are now in the field. — 00:00:46
  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates says rich countries like the US assume reliable refrigerators, 24-hour electricity and easy access to doctors, so matching good ideas with big needs is a pretty imperfect process. — 00:00:59 · United States

00:01:16 — 'Giving money back': capitalism's weird windfalls and where a dollar can save a life

  • ★★ John observes that Gates seems careful not to talk about giving money away, and instead repeatedly says he is giving money back. — 00:01:16
  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates calls capitalism a weird but fantastic system: it gives people an incentive to work, but lets someone with certain skills and timing end up with mind-blowing resources. — 00:01:24 · capitalism
  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates says he and his wife Melinda asked where the greatest injustice is and where a dollar can save a life or avoid malnutrition, concluding poor countries offer huge impact. — 00:01:41

00:01:53 — Ethiopia's health system: child death from over 15% to about 8%, malnutrition and stunting, the 2025 middle-income goal; a positive story

  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates says in the last ten years Ethiopia cut its childhood death rate from over 15% to about 8%; the US is below 1%. — 00:02:03 · child mortality, United States
  • ★★ Bill Gates: Gates says Ethiopia should be able to get childhood death below 2%. (hedged) — 00:02:08 · child mortality
  • ★★ Bill Gates: Gates says malnourishment, seen through stunting, is still pretty high in Ethiopia. — 00:02:17
  • ★★ Bill Gates: Gates says finding children who aren't growing, getting nutritious food out and improving agricultural productivity ought to virtually eliminate malnutrition. (hedged) — 00:02:23
  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates says Ethiopia's stated goal is to become a middle-income country by 2025, and it absolutely can get there. — 00:02:32
  • ★★★ Bill Gates: Gates calls Ethiopia's progress very exciting: health is an enabling piece, the country is pulling together, the system is well designed and donors look for missing tools. — 00:02:38 · progress, global health
  • ★★ Bill Gates: Gates says it is a very positive story, one he doesn't think most people know about. (hedged) — 00:02:55 · progress

Mentioned

Central: capitalism · Ethiopia · P6 · polio

Also: People: Melinda French Gates

Organizations: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation · Government of Ethiopia

Concepts: child mortality · crop yield · effective altruism · extreme poverty · malaria · malnutrition · middle-income country · progress · smallpox · stunted growth · systems thinking

Places: United States

Taking part: Bill Gates

Also centred on Ethiopia: Listen: Thoughts from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia · Baby Names: Thoughts from Rural Ethiopia · Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World · Bill Gates and John Green Discuss Global Health · Going to College (in Ethiopia) · Looking Away

Also centred on polio: 2017 is the Best?

← Previous: Gettin' Real with Hank · Next → Keeping it EVEN REALER