Bill Gates Answers Questions on World Poverty

Bill Gates has answered 11 questions submitted by readers of Newsweek magazine about his work in developing countries, high-tech versus low-tech solutions to poverty, the impending water shortage, and other topics.

A person who identified herself as Judy B. asked Mr. Gates if he thinks it is “fair to save lives through advancements in medicine only to subject these people to abject poverty, more illness, and the possibility of starvation.”

“Melinda and I asked the same question when we got involved in global health,” Mr. Gates responded. “There are good data to show that when health conditions improve, population growth actually goes down. Very quickly people realize that they can have fewer children because there’s a much better chance they will grow up to be healthy adults. In countries where health improves, life improves on many levels: Literacy rates go up, school attendance increases, economic opportunities grow, and so on.”