Is Bill Gates a Humanitarian, Villain or Misguided Man?

Bill Gates, with his wife Melinda, started the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable organization that has donated an estimated $28 billion to help address world health problems and educational needs. One of the programs supported by the foundation is a massive vaccination program targeting developing countries and resulting in serious injury and death to thousands of children.

Many who are in favor of vaccinations support Bill Gates’ controversial vaccine programs, while those who oppose vaccines criticize Gates for causing significant harm to lives of those most vulnerable. Others view Bill Gates as well-meaning, but very misguided on the vaccine issue.

Who is Bill Gates?

Born William Henry Gates on October 28, 1955, Bill Gates is best known for his amassed monetary fortune. As the founder of Microsoft, Gates is estimated to be worth $56 billion. Gates is married to Melinda French and they have three children together. In 2008, Gates retired from his business and began working full-time for his charitable foundation he founded with his wife.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was started to improve American education and address poverty and health problems in developing countries. It has donated $28 billion, including $8 billion to global health initiatives. Investor Warren Buffet is responsible for $17 billion of the donations made through the Gates Foundation. [1, 2]

In their own words, these are the stated goals of the foundation:

“Our foundation is teaming up with partners around the world to take on some tough challenges: extreme poverty and poor health in developing countries, and the failures of America’s education system. We focus on only a few issues because we think that’s the best way to have great impact, and we focus on these issues in particular because we think they are the biggest barriers that prevent people from making the most of their lives.” [3]

In 2014, $3.9 billion was donated in grants, according to the foundation’s report. These donations have been made to the United States and 100 other countries. The donations included some of the following initiatives.

The majority of money is targeted toward vaccinations, with $1.5 billion funding the GAVI Alliance, which expands childhood immunization, and $456 million directed to a malaria vaccine initiative. $355 million goes towards polio eradication through Rotary International.

In fairness, the programs targeting small farmers, poverty and education appear to be worthwhile and hopefully produce positive changes. No donations going towards clean water and sanitation were noted on the following list, but another page of the Bill and Melinda Gates website did acknowledge this as an area of concern, describing grants devoted to sanitation projects.

Illustrative Grant Commitments
  • GAVI Alliance, expanding childhood immunization: $1.5 billion
    United Negro College Fund, Gates Millennium Scholars Program: $1.37 billion
  • PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI): $456 million
  • Rotary International, supporting polio eradication: $355 million
  • Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching, supporting plans to transform how teachers are recruited, developed, rewarded, and retained: $290 million
  • Hillsborough County Public Schools: $100 million
  • Memphis City Schools: $90 million
  • The College-Ready Promise, Los Angeles: $60 million
  • Pittsburgh Public Schools: $40 million
  • Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), improving seeds and soil for African farmers: $264.5 million
  • Save the Children, saving newborn lives: $112 million
  • United Way of King County: $85 million
  • World Food Programme increasing small farmer income: $66 million
  • TechnoServe, helping small coffee farmers improve crops and fetch higher prices: $46.9 million
  • Heifer International, helping small farmers grow local and regional dairy markets: $43 million
  • Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a coalition of countries from the developing world making savings accounts, insurance, and other financial services available to people living on less than $2 a day: $35 million
  • Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), testing and promoting the use of information and communications technologies to deliver microfinance products: $24 million
  • Achieve, Inc. and the American Diploma Project Network, assisting states in aligning high school standards with the expectations of college and career: $23 million
  • Opportunity Online Program, multiple library systems: $22.9 million
  • Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, supporting the installation of public computers with Internet access, training for staff, and implementation support for public libraries: $19.8 million
  • Opportunity International Inc. , developing and expanding a network of commercial banks in Africa: $15.4 million
  • Gateway to College, expanding a program that enables colleges to serve students who need remedial academic help: $7.28 million
  • Building Changes, helping create the Washington Families Fund and supporting efforts in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties to reduce family homelessness: $17.5 million [4]

    Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Has Injured and Killed Thousands

    The work that comes under fire is the funding by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of vaccination programs in developing countries. Many of these vaccine programs have resulted in deaths, injuries and permanent disabilities for children in developing countries.

    Unlike in the United States, where mainstream media largely ignores vaccine injuries and corruption, news reporters in other countries report on these important health issues. A major India news source, The Economic Times of India, has written a lengthy, scathing report of fraud involving the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

    In 2014, The Economic Times of India reported on the pending India Supreme Court investigation involving the deaths of seven girls and injury to more than 100 previously healthy girls in Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardasil trials. These trials were conducted on thousands of girls between ages 9 and 15, many of whom did not even know what kind of vaccination they were receiving as part of the trial. The report stated that as many as 120 girls experienced epileptic seizures, severe stomach aches, headaches, mood swings, early onset of menstruation, heavy bleeding and severe menstrual cramps, following the vaccinations. [5]

    According to a comprehensive report published by VacTruth, a total of 30,000 girls were administered HPV vaccines in India beginning in 2009, many with no legal consent. These vaccines were funded by the Gates Foundation. [6]

    The pentavalent vaccine, which started as a trial in India with funding by the Gates Foundation, is responsible for 54 deaths, along with 135 hospitalizations of previously healthy infants. The 5-in-1 vaccine, claiming to protect against diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and Hib meningitis, was introduced as a pilot project on December 14, 2011, in which 19 infants died within the first year. While the Supreme Court of India has sought to ban the vaccination, the Indian government has increased the use of the vaccine, resulting in mounting infant deaths. [7]

    Another vaccine disaster funded by the Gates Foundation caused significant suffering to 106 previously healthy, thriving children. In the small village of Gouro, Chad, Africa, in December of 2012, five hundred children were locked in their school and threatened to have their education discontinued if they did not receive the hepatitis A vaccination. These children received vaccinations with neither their parents’ knowledge nor their consent.

    The vaccine was unlicensed, still requiring testing. Soon after the vaccines, 106 children suffered from severe convulsions, paralysis, vomiting, and headaches. The children waited one week to see a doctor, who could do nothing to help them. The families were given money by the government, as compensation for their children’s health being severely damaged.

    Other news sources have reported that the Gates Foundation is responsible for 10,000 vaccine-related deaths. In 2013, a report written by investigative journalist Susanne Posel and published in Occupy Corporatism, reported that GAVI (funded by the Gates Foundation) was responsible for the deaths of 10,000 children in Pakistan through their administration of untested polio vaccinations. [8]

    Real Ways to Help those in Poor Countries

    Those in poor countries need access to clean water and food, not vaccinations. Most authorities agree that clean water and sanitation are crucial for improving the lives of those in developing countries. Even GlaxoSmithKline, a vaccine manufacturer, reported that clean water is the most important, cost-effective disease prevention. [9, 10]

    A search on the website of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does acknowledge their awareness of the importance of improved sanitation. The foundation reports that they provide grants to help those primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, where the need for improved sanitation is great. It is certainly praiseworthy that their foundation seems committed to helping in this way, but the overwhelming majority of their financial resources are directed towards expansion of vaccinations.  [11]

    With so much money poured into their vaccine programs, it is hard to imagine what benefits could take place if those same resources were used instead to provide basic access to food, clean water and sanitation. To give a vaccination to a starving child who can only access unclean water is an extremely misguided view of health and preventive care. The immune system requires adequate nutrition and giving a malnourished child a vaccination will likely only increase the chances of negative health consequences.

    Misguided and Blind Belief in Vaccine Myth

    The vaccine myth of safety and effectiveness is strong and widespread. The majority of physicians and physician groups, most of whom have good intentions, blindly recommend vaccines. The medical education medical students receive is highly biased in favor of vaccinations, with minimal information provided about vaccine risks and negative health consequences. Financial incentives also exist for doctors who maintain high vaccination rates. [12]

    There is a huge divide between pro-vaccinators and anti-vaccinators, but the myth of vaccine safety and effectiveness is alive and well. It would make sense to conclude that Bill and Melissa Gates, like so many others, are truly under the belief that vaccinations are improving the health of those targeted in undeveloped nations.

    News reports confirm that Bill Gates honestly believes that he is saving the lives of poverty-stricken children through his widespread vaccine programs. His foundation has published reports that confirm his continued belief that vaccinations are improving health in developing countries in the most cost-effective way. The question that must be asked is how Bill Gates can reconcile the deaths and injuries of so many children with his belief that vaccines are safe and effective. [13]

    To learn more about why vaccinations are not considered safe or effective in preventing disease, read 10 Reasons Not to Vaccinate.

    Accountability and Responsibility

    With power comes responsibility. When someone has the power and resources to make a large impact in the world, that individual needs to take responsibility for the consequences. Bill Gates is one such individual who does have the power to make a huge positive difference in the world.

    It is unfortunate, and many would say even criminal, that Gates has acted in a blind matter of faith in his belief that vaccinations are safe and effective, without investigating further. When deaths and serious health consequences were reported, associated with his foundation’s vaccination trials, it would seem logical to investigate why this was happening.

    Vaccine safety, regardless of views on vaccines, should be a priority. Fully informed consent by those vaccinated is an essential ethical consideration as well.

    It could be argued that this blind eye to vaccine damage and deaths occurs on a daily basis in our health care system. Physicians routinely deny vaccine damage and attribute injuries to other causes. The fact that this is such common practice only points to the immensity of the need for change.

    Conclusion

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated money to 100 countries and the United States with their stated objective to improve education and world health. Investor Warren Buffet is a primary contributor to the foundation. Some of the foundation’s programs target schools, farmers, and sanitation needs, all worthy causes.

    One of their primary programs, with significant funding, has included vaccination programs focused on developing countries. These vaccine initiatives have resulted in documented deaths and injuries for thousands of previously healthy children.

    Are Melinda and Bill Gates simply misguided in their belief that vaccines are safe and effective, willing to ignore reports that children are being permanently damaged or killed, in their view that the greater good is being served? Are they unaware of the deaths and injuries that their vaccine program is causing? It is difficult to explain their continued support of vaccinations, in light of the tremendous amount of health damage caused by their vaccine initiatives.

    At the very least, the Melissa and Bill Gates Foundation should be held responsible for their foundation’s impact on the health of those very vulnerable, who lack access to food, clean water and proper sanitation. The foundation should be accountable and investigate any wrongdoing occurring in their vaccination programs. Informed consent with full disclosure of health risks should occur prior to all vaccinations.

    Vaccine safety studies should be performed before vaccinating starving, malnourished children.

    The Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation is in a position to change the world in a very positive way. Focusing their resources on food, clean water and proper sanitation would greatly improve the lives of those suffering in poor countries. Starving children in impoverished countries need access to clean water and food, not dangerous vaccines.

    References:

    1. http://www.biographyonline.net/business/bill-gates.html
    2. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are…History
    3. http://www.gatesfoundation.org…Letter-from-Bill-and-Melinda-Gates
    4. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are…Factsheet
    5. https://healthimpactnews.com/2014/bill-melinda-gates…
    6. https://vactruth.com/2014/10/05/bill-gates-vaccine-crimes/
    7. http://www.omsj.org/blogs/after-54-infant-deaths…
    8. http://beforeitsnews.com/agenda-21/2014/10/the-gates-foundation…
    9. http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/water/
    10. http://articles.mercola.com…healthy-foods-not-vaccines.aspx
    11. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do…
    12. https://vactruth.com/2016/03/22/why-doctors-recommend-vaccinations/
    13. http://www.forbes.com…the-second-coming-of-bill-gates/#21912a738e5d

     

    Written by Michelle, Holistic Health to Go

    Is Bill Gates a Humanitarian, Villain or Misguided Man? first published at VacTruth on July 16, 2016

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