Remarkable Progress, India Gives Hope For The Future: Bill Gates Ahead Of India Visit

In his blog, Gates said India gives hope for the future and proved that the country could solve big problems at once even when the world is facing multiple crises

Microsoft co-founder and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair Bill Gates in his blog ‘Gates Notes’ lauded India for remarkable progress and informed that he is coming to India next week to see the work being done by innovators and entrepreneurs.

In the blog titled ‘My message in India: To fight climate change, improve global health,' Gates said India gives hope for the future and proved that the country could solve big problems at once even when the world is facing multiple crises.

Stating that most of the time he gets responses that there isn’t enough time or money to solve both at the same time, Gates said he believed that with the right innovations and delivery channels the world is capable of making progress on lots of big problems at once, even at a time when the world is facing multiple crises. Citing an example he said, India proved all the responses wrong. "There is no better proof than the remarkable progress that India has accomplished," Gates wrote.

"India as a whole gives me hope for the future. It's about to become the world's most populous country, which means you can't solve most problems there without solving them at scale. And yet, India has proven it can tackle big challenges. The country eradicated polio, lowered HIV transmission, reduced poverty, cut infant mortality, and increased access to sanitation and financial services," he added.

In his blog, Gates also noted that India has developed a world-leading approach to innovation that ensures solutions reach those who need them. When the rotavirus vaccine, which prevents the virus that causes many fatal cases of diarrhoea, was too expensive to reach every child, India decided to make the vaccine itself.

India worked with experts and funders (including the Gates Foundation) to build factories and create large-scale delivery channels to distribute the vaccines. By 2021, 83 per cent of 1-year-olds had been inoculated against rotavirus, and these low-cost vaccines are now being used in other countries around the world, Gates said.

While talking about its funding in India's Indian Agricultural Research Institute, or IARI, in Pusa, Bill Gates said, "The Gates Foundation joined hands with India's public sector and CGIAR institutions to support the work of researchers at IARI. They found a new solution: chickpea varieties that have more than 10 per cent higher yields and are more drought-resistant. One variety is already available to farmers, and others are currently developing at the institute. As a result, India is better prepared to keep feeding its people and supporting its farmers even in a warming world. It's no exaggeration to say that India's agricultural future is growing right now in a field in Pusa."

One of the reasons why challenges like climate, hunger, and health seem insurmountable is that we don't yet have all the tools to solve them. But I'm optimistic that one day soon we will, thanks in part to innovators like researchers at IARI," he added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also shared Gates' blog published in one of the media publications.

"Others are finding new ways to help people adapt to a warmer world, such as IARI's efforts to create more drought-tolerant crops. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress that's already underway by both the Gates Foundation's and Breakthrough Energy's amazing partners," Bill Gates said. "Like every other country on the planet, India has limited resources. But it has shown us how the world can still make progress in spite of that constraint. By collaborating and trying novel approaches, the public, private, and philanthropic sectors can turn limited resources into big pools of funding and knowledge that lead to progress. If we work together, I believe we can fight climate change and improve global health at the same time," he added.