February 6, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Was Bill Gates’s mosquito stunt to promote antimalarial efforts a good idea?
This week, during the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference, the Agence France-Presse reports that the philanthropist opened a jar onstage containing mosquitoes and told the crowd, “Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. I brought some. Here I’ll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected.”
A few minutes later, Mr. Gates informed the worried audience members that the insects were malaria-free.
His stunt has generated fair amount of a, uh, buzz, but was it a good way to raise attention for a charitable cause?
A TED official reportedly quipped that the mosquito event should be titled, “Gates releases more bugs into the world.”
What do you think of Mr. Gates’s publicity stunt? Will it draw attention to his efforts to fight disease or just generate jokes at his expense? Click on the comment button below to share your views.
