Bill & melinda gates foundation all lives
 
 
What is the Living Proof Project?

Investments in global health are achieving real, demonstrable results. These investments are saving lives, preventing and curing disease, and helping people to escape from poverty. Unfortunately, this message is not reaching many people. Research on the tone of media coverage has shown that stories about global health are generally negative. The same research shows that Americans have had enough of stories that focus on problems, pessimism and guilt; they want to hear about progress, optimism and opportunity.

The Living Proof Project is a multimedia initiative intended to highlight successes of U.S.-funded global health initiatives. By reporting success stories back to the people who funded them - American taxpayers and their representatives - we hope to reframe the current global health conversation.  Millions of lives have already been transformed and saved with effective, affordable solutions. We have the knowledge, innovative technologies and proven tools to do much more.
 
 
The People

Investments in global health are achieving real, demonstrable results. These investments are saving lives, preventing and curing disease, and helping people to escape from poverty. Unfortunately, this message is not reaching many people. Research on the tone of media coverage has shown that stories about global health are generally negative. The same research shows that Americans have had enough of stories that focus on problems, pessimism and guilt; they want to hear about progress, optimism and opportunity.

The Living Proof Project is a multimedia initiative intended to highlight successes of U.S.-funded global health initiatives. By reporting success stories back to the people who funded them - American taxpayers and their representatives - we hope to reframe the current global health conversation.  Millions of lives have already been transformed and saved with effective, affordable solutions. We have the knowledge, innovative technologies and proven tools to do much more.
 
 
The Investment

The money the United States spends in developing countries to prevent disease and fight poverty is effective, empowers people, and is appreciated.

To understand the big picture, consider how much America is currently spending on global health. The federal budget for 2010 is $3.591 trillion. Of that, only about $9 billion, or roughly one quarter of one percent, goes to global health.

Even with this small percentage of the budget, U.S. investments in global health have saved millions of lives.

When we make investments to improve the health of a community, we improve the lives of people living there on many other levels:

  • hey make more money
  • nutrition improves
  • more resources are available to care for their families
  • education becomes easier
  • the economy improves
  • infrastructure improves
  • and so on...
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    The Progress

    There are many success stories:

  • Smallpox: After a collective global effort, we’ve eliminated this disease from the planet.
  • Polio: In just more than 10 years, intensive worldwide efforts to distribute a vaccine have reduced polio by 99 percent. And, although there are still pockets of resurgence, since 1988 more than two billion children have been immunized against polio.
  • Vaccines: Immunizations have prevented more than 20 million deaths over the past twenty years. That’s in addition to eradicating smallpox and cutting polio cases by more than 99 percent.
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    Visit our toolkit page to download and read more about progress in global health, on issues including: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, vaccines, maternal/newborn/child health, nutrition, neglected diseases, and polio.
     
     
    What Can I Do?
    One of the biggest barriers to changing the world is the belief that nothing ever gets better. The best way to change what people believe is to change the way they talk.

    Tell your friends and family that progress is possible. The world is already saving lives, and if we invest more money and time, we can save more lives.

    Dispel the myths. When you hear someone say ‘It’s just money down a hole,’ or ‘Saving lives just leads to overpopulation,’ tell them why they’re wrong. These investments work. They empower people, and they’re appreciated.

    Keep coming back to this website. We will continue to tell more stories of living proof – adding more video and photo galleries, creating more infographics, and launching exciting new programs
     
     
    "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - Living Proof Project"
     
     
     
     
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