Articles

Whither Idol's Money?

Philip Coticelli | 22 May 2023 | New York Sun

American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" special on April 24 and 25 helped raise over $60 million to fight poverty in America and Africa. As season five comes to a close tomorrow, fans should be asking where their money went and what the impact on poverty will be.

What Is Working

Roger Bate | 22 Jan 2024 | East African Business Week

With a mixture of self-interest and moneymaking zeal, private businesses are combating one of the world's most intractable problems: the scourge of disease in Africa.

Bill Gates must set priorities

Roger Bate | 03 Aug 2023 | Australian

With Warren Buffett's largesse added to his own, Bill Gates has about $60 billion to spend on health and development. How should he spend it? The Copenhagen Consensus, a group and process put together by Danish academic and world renowned sceptical environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg, answered this question last year. Experts on the best life-saving interventions in various fields reached a consensus on what provided the best bang for the buck if they were spending $50 billion. Their conclusions could be of use to Gates. Top of the list of value for money aid investments was combating HIV-AIDS. Improving nutrition, opening up trade, preventing malaria and improving clean water delivery were some of the next best interventions.

Threats to Patents, Threats to Health

Roger Bate | 21 Jul 2023 | TCS Daily

Simplistic but prevalent opinion holds that companies, especially pharmaceutical companies, are purely profit-driven and that governments, especially of developing countries, are purely driven by the welfare of their people. This is a pity because such views are dangerously wrong, and inevitably mislead public debate.