Bill Gates on global health: we need lower population growth and technology

No matter what problems you care about—environment, schools, nutrition, social unrest—Bill says they’re insoluble at 3% per year population growth rate. “There will be no trees, animals, jobs, schools,” Bill says. “Nobody can handle that type of situation.”

He says the most important thing that people need to know is that by improving health and saving the lives of children under five, you can actually help reduce population growth. That sounds paradoxical, Bill says, but within a decade of improving health outcomes, research has shown that parents decide to have fewer children.

The Gates Foundation plans to announce another call for its Grand Challenge in Global Health. Bill says the initiative started with grants of $10 million or more for ideas on solving some of the big issues in global health, like vaccine delivery or drug resistance.

Now, the foundation is doing more smaller “exploration” grants. Applicants submit a two page proposal, and if a reviewer (who gets about 30 proposals) thinks it’s the best, the project gets funded—no matter what the other reviewers say. The goal is to get people to apply who otherwise wouldn’t, Bill says. “It’s all going to be crazy ideas because that’s where the answer is going to come from.”

Microsoft Research director Dr. Kristin Tolle, who interviewed Bill Gates on stage, also asked what technology will have the biggest impact on global health in the future. “If you just want to pick one thing, it’s got to be robots,” Bill says.

From an interview with Bisnow; excerpts edited by BillGatesWindows.com