Bill Gates says a single New York Times column he read in 1997 with the headline “For Third World, Water Is Still a Deadly Drink,” pushed him from Microsoft’s helm toward global health, launching a drive that has helped cut childhood deaths from diarrhea by more than 70%.
What Happened: Writing on his Gates Notes blog, the billionaire recalls sending the piece to his father with a note, “Maybe we can do something about this,” then committing a $40 million grant to vaccine research. That became seed money for what was to evolve into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Gates also shared a link to his blog in a tweet on Wednesday. He said that learning how many kids were dying from diarrhea back in 1997, when he “never worried about it” with his children, made him get more “involved” in global health.
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Back then, diarrhea was killing 3.1 million people a year, most under age 5. Today, roughly 340,000 young children still die annually from diarrheal disease, but rotavirus vaccination, oral rehydration therapy and better sanitation have saved millions.
Gates warns the fight is far from won. Shigella is growing antibiotic‑resistant, cholera outbreaks are climbing as climate change fouls water, and weak health systems leave children unvaccinated. His foundation is funding Shigella vaccine candidates and needle‑free delivery patches to reach remote areas.
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Why It Matters: Those efforts are bankrolled by what is now a $200 billion endowment slated to be spent down by 2045. Gates says he will “give away virtually all my wealth” within two decades. He and Warren Buffett also co‑founded the Giving Pledge, asking billionaires to donate at least half their fortunes to charity.
Melinda French Gates recently backed the plan to devote the entire endowment to global health, calling it “fantastic,” while the Gates Foundation, having disbursed just over $100 billion in its first 25 years, clarified that it will spend about $10 billion a year in its final 20 years.
