Bill Gates HIV mission to India

[Guest guest]

Indians have given Microsoft a lot: Gates

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2002 01:59:03 PM ]

SEATTLE: Gates Jr is best known as the world's richest man

and co-founder of the tech giant Microsoft. Less well known his

concern lately for health care in developing countries, especially

India

Starting November 11, Gates returns to India on his third visit,

focused mostly on his latest cause. In an exclusive interview with

The Times of India's Foreign Editor Chidanand Rajghatta in Seattle

this Tuesday, Gates, a day after his 47th birthday, speaks with

passion and intensity about why he believes in working for India's

health. Excerpts:

What is the origin of your concern for health in developing countries?

Bill Gates: Sometime back I was stunned to realise that 90 per cent

of the health sector money was spent on ten per cent of the diseases

afflicting rich countries. And only ten per cent of the money spent

was spent on 90 percent of the problem in developing countries. There

was marked failure of resource spending to improve human condition.

We also realised that a modest amount of resources in areas like

children's vaccination etc can have a dramatic impact. And as you

improve health, you improve the population and free up resources for

other things like nutrition, education, etc. Once I chose that my

resources were going to go back and help the world I had to pick

something and I picked health. And I must say we've been able to

energise things and raise visibility there.

And why India?

Bill Gates: Several reasons. India has contributed an amazing amount

to the software industry as a whole and to Microsoft in particular. A

high per cent of our great people come from India, a lot of our key

partners are based in India, so there is a desire to give back

because of that. India is also at a very early stage in the AIDS

epidemic, so that if the right things are done now, we can prevent it

become widespread.

We have a situation where India has the medical problems of a

developing country but it also has the best science capabilities to

study the diseases and create drugs to combat them. So we want to

encourage both prevention activity and the science work (in India)

and make what we are doing in Aids prevention a model for the world.

If the prevention folks do the right things over the next ten years

and the science community in India advance in vaccines or other

approach, then we can make sure not only India does not have the

disease but the epidemic can be stopped world wide.

How important is Indian human capital and intellectual resource for

Microsoft? Does that account for your concern for Indian health?

Bill Gates: Yes, my benefit and that of Microsoft from our great

Indian employees is part of the reason why I am so excited to be in

partnership with these groups in India helping them with what is a

problem that has to be solved. But no matter whether I have this

Indian connection or not, I would still be involved in India. India

is a super super important country for the world... for the software

industry and for Microsoft yes, but also for other reasons. It's a

billion people. Between India and China they form a third of the

world's population.

If India and China do the right things that would be such an amazing

thing for the entire world. That makes it a sum of higher priority.

Now I know a bit more of the country. I talk to these people and talk

to our partners in India to make sure we are not being na?e about

how we are going about things.

Two years back I worked on a book on India's info-tech journey and

found a lot of top folks at Microsoft were from India.

Bill Gates: There are even more today than when you did your book...

Is that right?

Bill Gates:Yes, our employees from India are making stronger and

stronger contributions, and it's quite amazing.

The urban myth is that 32 per cent of Micrsoft employees are of

Indian-origin, but that seems a stretch.

Bill Gates: Yes, that's too much. But if you took just our

engineering departments then it's about 20 per cent.

That's still huge.

Bill Gates:Yes, that's huge and that's just the engineering

department. It's a good-sized community. Hey, they even have a

cricket community. But I will say the Indian restaurants in Seattle

could be better. But we are working on that.

How do you view the minimalist foreign aid spending by the US

administration when it is ready to spend $100 billion for a war

against Iraq. US foreign aid to India is a mere $150 million.

Bill Gates: But $150 million is a lot.

Not when you look at it per capita it's not...

Bill Gates: That's true. But if you look at giving by any country to

any other country, it is quite a lot. The reality of help is that by

and large most countries are largely dependant on their own

resources. I'm very pro-US doing more on foreign aid. In Washington

we are as effective as we can be. Even so for the amount the US is

giving they deserve some credit. It is not enough to solve the

problem though. It is going to take the foundation coming in, the

government of India spending more, and people who are successful in

India and those Indians outside India... we'd like to draw them in as

well.

It's just that Bill Gates and Ted seem more concerned about

these issues now than people in Washington. After all human resources

are as important to the United States as it is to your business...

Bill Gates: I've been very lucky to have the resources I have and I'm

committed to give those back. Rich countries do give foreign aid. Is

it enough? Should they do more? I always encourage them to do more.

But we have to plan in terms of India achieving its full potential on

its own. We have to plan assuming foreign aid not going up

dramatically. The cost of prevention at this stage versus the cost of

treating people later on is so dramatically different. That's why we

have to highlight the cause now.

India is a wretchedly poor country with some fabulously rich people.

What message do you have for them from the philanthropic angle? Are

there things Indian companies can do?

Bill Gates: I talk with (Narayan) Murthy and (Azim) Premji and I am

impressed they believe in philanthropy. Both have involved their

wives and are picking causes. I enjoy talking to them about these

things and they will be good models for others. The importance of the

rich giving back is becoming greater and greater on a global basis

and I hope that a strong tradition of that is developing in India as

well and I will do my small part to encourage that, The U.S has more

philanthropy than any other country but we still don't have as much

as we should have.

What is your stand on the issue of patents and Intellectual Property

Rights, especially since it is so central to the AIDS issue. Can

protecting IPR be more important than saving lives?

Bill Gates: It's a fairly complex issue. There are two clear

principles: one is that in a health emergency like AIDS, poor people

should get drugs at the cost to make them and profit should not stand

in way of that. But we have to do that in a way that still preserves

the incentives for the invention of new drugs.

Whether those are incentives for companies in India that are growing

up and need to sell their products to fund their R & D or for the drug

companies that exist in the rich world, both issues are important to

the foundation. We need new drugs. Even if the all the existing drugs

were free it would not solve all the health problems. We need many

new drugs and many new vaccines. Fortunately I think the dialogue

about how IPR rules can achieve can these two goals is getting

better, it is less polarised.

You are big on investing in biotech. Is that something you would look

at in India? And is the foundation looking at Indian and indigenous

systems of medicines?

Bill Gates: Our partners in India are interested in any medicine no

matter where they come from. I have no particular knowledge in

indigenous medicine. I also don't spend time on investment. I have a

person who manages investment for me. And I think he does have some

biotech investments. No part of my thinking is on investment. My

focus is my family, my foundation and Microsoft. I will spend my time

on health challenges and software partnerships in India.

Will you be looking at some Microsoft-related work in India?

Bill Gates: I am packing a lot in wearing two hats. I'm seeing Naidu,

first on health and same day to discuss Microsoft and software. I'm

also going to Bangalore

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/comp/articleshow?

artid=26858878

______________________________________________