Some good news to share - Bill and Melinda Gates swept into town last night to say thank you - to the U.S. taxpayer. At a talk last night in D.C. they spoke about the success of their Living Proof Project, a series of global health initiatives that are demonstrating measurable results by saving millions of lives. The Gates stressed the importance of U.S. funding of global health projects and actively sought to illustrate the results of the investments made and to illuminate the importance of public/private partnerships. To name just a few of the advances made:
-- The number of children who die before age 5 has been halved since 1960-from 20 million to less than 9 million per year-even as the number of births increased by more than 20 percent. The death rate declined by more than a quarter (27 percent) from 1990 to 2007 alone.
-- After two decades of remarkable progress, the world now has the opportunity to eradicate polio. In 1988, more than 1,000 children became sick with polio each day. As a result of polio immunization campaigns, that number dropped to fewer than five per day by 2008-a decline of 99 percent in just 20 years.
-- Aggressive measles immunization campaigns are saving children's lives in poor countries at a cost of about $1 (U.S.) per child. Thanks to these efforts, the number of people who died of measles worldwide fell by 75 percent between 2000 and 2007. Much of the decline is due to progress in Africa, where measles deaths fell by 89 percent.
-- The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has helped rapidly expand HIV prevention and treatment programs in poor countries, and is estimated to have saved 1.2 million lives over the last five years. Sources
And that is only the beginning of the progress.
The Gates' multi-media presentation was a sight to behold and did (as predicted by my colleague who accompanied me) make me cry. From the individual stories about real children to the powerful visual representation of the most compelling facts, it was a flawless effort and while it was carefully scripted, the messages were clear, succinct and repeated in subsequent radio and television interviews. At Spectrum, we would call it a real communications success story with strong spokespeople who stayed on message.
Which then begged the question - certainly from a communications professional like me who almost always (and sometimes somewhat cynically) asks: What did they want? What was the take-away call to action? Ironically, it wasn't a call for increased funding or donor contributions or a letter writing campaign to Congress. It was, simply to tell a friend about The Living Proof Project. Which then prompts another question - what will be the true measure of success for this campaign and can expanding the conversation about reducing child mortality around the world really make a difference?
