Bill Gates Makes Economic Case for Wiping Out Polio

Bill Gates, who is spearheading a global, $5.5-billion effort to eradicate polio, tells NPR there is an economic as well as a humanitarian benefit to stamping out the disease, which has been contained to a relative smattering of cases in three countries.

Speaking to the public radio network’s “All Things Considered” program, the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said eliminating polio would save $2-billion a year that could then be applied to fighting other killer diseases and that money spent on the effort will help build health-care systems in developing countries.

Mr. Gates has secured pledges of $4-billion for the polio offensive, including $1.8-billion from his foundation. He disputed critics of the campaign who have argued that money spent on wiping out polio, which was limited last year to 223 cases in parts of Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, would be better invested in tackling more widespread diseases.