The most well-known American tech entrepreneur, Microsoft founder and the richest man in the world – Bill Gates, visited Brussels last week, and met with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and the Royal Couple.
Bill Gates is now on a world tour to promote innovation in health care, particularly in the developing world.
During a round-table event organised by Friends of Europe Gates said that “Research into neglected diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis is primordial”.
He also praised Europe for its rapid response to the Ebola epidemic and its important role in research into the disease. And he expressed his foundation’s focus on neglected diseases, which hit the very poorest of the poor, leading to seven million deaths a year from a lack of prevention, diagnosis and treatment
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The Gates Foundation has been sponsoring research into these diseases for nine years and has discovered a downward trend in investment by governments, while private R&D spending has risen
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Later in the day, Gates was received by King Filip and Queen Mathilde at the royal palace.
