Over the decades, people around the world have become richer and healthier. The number of people living on less than $ 1.9 a day has been declining year on year, until this year.
The pandemic has dealt a blow to everyone, both in their health and in their wallets. Covid-19 is widening the gap between rich and poor in most countries in ways not seen in decades.
In a conversation with reporters ahead of the release of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Goalkeeper 2020 report, billionaire Bill Gates said, “This year is really different. The Covid-19 pandemic is in almost every way. “Inequalities have worsened. By 2020, apart from some improvements in smoking cessation rates around the world, we have made almost no progress. We backed off. “.
According to Bill Gates, here are the biggest obstacles we face:
The last time many countries entered recession at the same time was in 1870.
The World Bank estimates that, for the first time since 1998, poverty rates will increase dramatically around the world, “when the world economy falls into recession.”
Here is the International Monetary Fund’s forecast that the decline in gross domestic product (GDP) due to the pandemic will be much worse than the 2008 recession: In terms of GDP losses, “this is the recession. worst recession since the end of World War II, ”according to the report, the decline in GDP was twice as large as the 2008 recession.
“There have been 37 million more people in extreme poverty,” Gates said. According to the US Census Bureau, about a third of Americans struggled to pay their bills in August because of the pandemic.
25 years of vaccine progress shattered in 25 weeks
According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (data partner of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), 25 years of advances in vaccines against deadly diseases around the world were quickly wiped out by the Covid epidemic -19 in 25 years.
Leaving children out of school during a pandemic saved many of those lives, but also affected their learning. Even at home, girls are more vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse. Many children may not be able to return to school after a pandemic for many reasons, including unintended pregnancy.
To improve these problems and more, according to Bill Gates, “the first thing is to end the pandemic”. The billionaire said the development of the Covid-19 vaccine is the one area the United States deserves to welcome in its response to the pandemic.
The United States is supporting research and development for many of the best vaccine candidates and, according to Gates, “a certain set of vaccines that promise to be very effective and safe.”
However, according to the Goalkeepers report, “the probability of success of current vaccination programs in the United States is only 7% in the early stages and 17% when transitioning to human trials.”
According to the Northeastern University model cited in the Goalkeepers report, if the 50 richest countries in the world (including the United States) buy the first 2 billion doses of vaccine to fill their populations, then “shut down twice as many people elsewhere could die from COVID-19 “.
According to Gates, now is the time for America to be “more generous” and we need to spend more money to build vaccine factories around the world. It is the driving force to bring life back as it was before.
25 years of vaccine progress wiped out by pandemic in just 25 weeks
