Bill Gates is taken aback by the lack of interest in these "dull" questions, which he believes are "more significant than GDP."
Bill Gates is frequently sought after for his opinions on major issues such as artificial intelligence, climate change, and pandemics.
Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist, is surprised that more people don't ask about other topics he finds just as interesting and important.
"When I initially posed the question, 'What do kids die of?' I struggled to find the answer and wondered if we should all be asking that kind of question." Gates, 69, shared this during a podcast episode with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, which was published on Wednesday. "It's more crucial than GDP."
Bill Gates often ponders about complex medical questions, such as "How does malnutrition occur?" and "What are the most effective ways to comprehend diseases?" despite these subjects not being commonly considered by most Americans.
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Gates has been a vocal proponent of enhancing global health, with a particular focus on addressing malnutrition. In the early 1990s, he came across a New York Times article that highlighted the dangers of unsafe drinking water, which resulted in millions of deaths annually, primarily among children. This article sparked a profound question in Gates, which he has been contemplating ever since: why do children die "literally every day." In a 2022 blog post, he wrote about this issue.
The CDC considers low infant mortality rates a crucial measure of a society's overall health, as they indicate economic strength and resource availability. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reports that poor nutrition costs the global economy $3.5 trillion annually in lost productivity.
Gates wrote that one of the most crucial questions is whether a society is safeguarding its children, particularly its most vulnerable ones.
Gates stated that malnutrition is not a significant issue for the average person residing in an area that is not affected by it. He added that it can be resolved with only 1% to 2% of the budgets of wealthy nations, making it a "boring" problem that should be solved without the need for everyday Americans to be concerned about it.
"People's lack of curiosity surprises me," Gates stated.
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