(A)122 million-the number of children's lives saved since 1990
Melinda: Every September, the UN announces the number of children under five who died the previous year. Every year, this number breaks my heart and gives me hope. It's tragic that so many children are dying, but every year more children live.
Melinda: …Coverage for the basic package of childhood vaccines is now the highest it's ever been, at 86 percent. And the gap between the richest and the poorest countries is the lowest it's ever been. Vaccines are the biggest reason for the drop in childhood deaths.
They're an incredible investment. The pentavalent vaccine, which protects against five (B)deadly infections in a single shot, now costs under a dollar.
Bill: And for every dollar spent on childhood immunizations, you get $44 in economic benefits. That includes saving the money that families lose when a child is sick and a parent can't work.
The market wasn't working for vaccines for poor kids because the families who needed them couldn't afford them. But this gave us an opening. If we could create a purchasing fund so pharmaceutical companies would have enough customers, they'd have the market incentives to develop and produce vaccines.
Bill: This is the number we're striving toward every day at the foundation. Zero malaria. Zero TB. Zero HIV. Zero malnutrition. Zero preventable deaths. Zero difference between the health of a poor kid and every other kid.
Melinda: Moving toward zero is perhaps the biggest difference between our philanthropy and a business. In the private sector, the goal is to stay in business. In our case, nothing would make us happier than going out of business because we've achieved our goals.
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