this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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Work Reform

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[–] Rozauhtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zone 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Bill Gates has done significant good fighting disease.

No, he got in the way of progress for the sake of his own profit. The scientists that made the covid vaccine wanted it to be open source so any country could make their own, but he forced the company to patent it instead.

He's also been funding anti-scientific propaganda to convince people that his anti-solutions will solve the climate crisis. His foundation also regularly invests in ventures that pollute the Global South.

[–] Solemn@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago

He's not perfect, and your examples show why these sorts of decisions on spending and priority shouldn't be in the hands of a single person who isn't even an expert in diseases.

It's still worth acknowledging that he did plenty to help with polio and malaria, even if it could've been done better by another method.

[–] danielquinn@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

That "antisolitions" read was fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

The real obstacle wasn't patents, it was manufacturing capability. India early on didn't even let US vaccines in when offered them because they insisted they had to go through their own regulatory and testing process first.