November 12, 2009 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Bill and Melinda Gates have started an unusual advocacy campaign to show the success of American foreign assistance, saying continued support for such programs could drastically reduce the number of child deaths in poor nations.
While intended to primarily influence policy makers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said the effort may also influence donors as they make hard choices about what causes to support in hard times.
The campaign is a “thank you” to taxpayers and politicians for providing money to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, antimalarial work, and other programs, the Gateses told The Chronicle and other news publications in an interview.
“As we travel around for the foundation, which we do quite a bit in the developing world, we realize that we see a lot of hope on the ground,” said Ms. Gates. “And yet when you come back to the U.S. and you read the newspaper, you go on the Internet, you’re not hearing about the positive changes that are happening because of these American investments.”
Dramatic Results
The couple said foreign aid is not always spent wisely, but overall it is effective and has helped lead to a dramatic decline in child deaths in the developing world, from 20 million in 1960 to 9 million today. They said with increased assistance, especially providing better basic health services to newborns and new mothers, that number could drop to 5 million in 15 years.
Federal funds to improve health abroad have increased significantly, climbing from $1.5-billion in 2001 to $7.7-billion in 2009. While acknowledging that the United States faces a growing budget deficit, Mr. Gates said he hopes the Obama administration and Congress will increase that amount, though he declined to say by how much.
The Gates foundation said it was unclear how much it is spending on the drive because it is a continuing effort. It did say that the campaign’s TV ads have cost at least $1-million.
Information on the Living Proof campaign is available at http://www.gatesfoundation.org/livingproofproject.
