A run-of-the-mill newspaper article forever changed Bill Gates’s view of the world and thus the world itself. Gates read, he says, that millions of people are dying each year from easily treated diseases like pneumonia; dying for lack of a basic immunization shot; dying simply from dehydration due to diarrheal diseases–and he decided to act. A few inches of ordinary newsprint was the catalyst for directing an extraordinary $24 billion from the richest to the poorest on earth. If this is the power of the printed word, think what miracles nine pages of NEWSWEEK might create. Barbara Haley Sidney, British Columbia
As a medical student, I applaud Bill Gates’s new philanthropic focus on world health care. It is paradoxical, however, that the fortune that allows him to take on this new challenge was acquired by the same mechanisms that have contributed to these health-care problems. Power differentials between countries in the free market have fueled the economies of the Western nations and allowed Gates’s company to flourish. Yet these same forces widen the gap between the world’s rich and poor. It is encouraging to see that some of America’s wealth will be distributed to where it came from and put to good use by a man with as much business and practical sense as Bill Gates. Miguel Imperial Vancouver, British Columbia
It has been said that it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Surely the Gateses have lit a blowtorch. Dorothy A. Treat El Cajon, Calif.
Why not concentrate all these fine efforts and spending on helping children within the United States? There is a shocking incidence of poor health coverage of children in our own population. Bill and Melinda Gates are to be lauded for their humane efforts, but they should remember that charity begins at home. Larry H. Burritt Villa Park, Ill.
Editor’s note: Despite its focus on global health, the Gates Foundation has spent $1.7 billion in domestic education grants and has funded a range of philanthropic efforts in the Pacific Northwest.
Don’t Discount Mammograms
Your article correctly says that mammograms give women a “false sense of security.” Nine years ago, at 45, six months after my annual mammogram showed no abnormality, I was diagnosed with breast cancer that had already spread extensively through my lymph nodes. I discovered my cancer through self-examination that included feeling under my arms, where I found the lump. Nothing is more important than breast self-examination. Ilene W. Shane Philadelphia, Pa.
To Be or Not to Be
Director, Critical Care MedicineTrinitas Hospital
Be careful what you advocate, Anna Quindlen. Assume it’s 2042. You are an elderly person with some medical problems, living in a world that grants a legal right to die. You want to live. But there are strong family, economic and societal pressures for you to “just take this little pill, dear.” It’s legal, painless and quick. And you can spare society and your family the cost and inconvenience of dealing with you now that they think you’ve already experienced “life death.” John Gallenberger Spencerport, N.Y.
