Bill Gates Releases Third Annual Letter, Calling for Sustained Foreign Aid to Boost Global Health and Development

Speaking at Historic Roosevelt House, Gates Outlines Why the World Should Prioritize Vaccines and the Eradication of Polio

NEW YORK, January 31, 2011 - Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, argues the
case for polio eradication and expanded childhood immunization in his third
annual letter released today. The letter, a personal account of his
priorities, also calls on governments to invest in foreign aid, even in the
face of a tough economic climate.

"If societies can't provide for people's basic health, if they can't feed
and educate people, then their populations and problems will grow and the
world will be a less stable place," Gates writes in the letter. "Whether you
believe it a moral imperative or in the rich world's enlightened
self-interest, securing the conditions that will lead to a healthy,
prosperous future for everyone is a goal I believe we all share."

Gates also emphasizes the need to continue improving U.S. schools, and
urges more leadership, innovation and investment for issues like maternal and
child health, malaria, HIV/AIDS and agriculture.

Gates focuses on polio eradication as a key example of the value of
vaccines. Thanks to a global childhood immunization campaign, polio has been
reduced 99 percent, and is on the threshold of becoming only the second
disease ever eradicated.

"Getting rid of polio will mean that no child will be paralyzed or die by
this disease," said Gates. "Any major advance in the human condition requires
resolve and courageous leadership. We are so close, but we have to finish the
last leg of the journey."

New donations to polio were announced last week from the U.K. government
and from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince
of Abu Dhabi, which will reduce the gap of $720 million that is needed to
fully fund polio eradication efforts through mid-2012. A recent study
estimated that eradication could save the world up to $50 billion due to
reduced treatment costs and gains in productivity.

Gates released his letter with a speech at the historic Roosevelt House,
the former New York home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, where the future
president recuperated after being stricken with polio at age 39. Roosevelt
and his law partner Basil O'Conner later launched the National Foundation for
Infantile Paralysis, whose March of Dimes campaign mobilized the country
against polio and raised millions of dollars to support the search for an
effective vaccine.

Polio once threatened children worldwide, but there are now just four
countries where polio has never stopped circulating - Afghanistan, India,
Nigeria and Pakistan. Last year saw remarkable progress in Nigeria and India,
where polio cases dropped by about 95 percent compared to 2009. But even a
few isolated cases can cross borders and spark an outbreak.

Gates emphasizes that achieving polio eradication would energize the
global health field by showing the real impact of health investments -
particularly investments in vaccines. Last year, Gates called for the next 10
years to be the Decade of Vaccines, a vision of a world ten years from now
where the global health community has come together to deliver life-saving
vaccines to every child who needs them, and to invest in vaccines that don't
yet exist.

"Not everyone can go into the field, or even donate. But everyone of us
can be an advocate for people whose voices are often not heard," Gates
writes. "I encourage everyone to get involved in working for solutions to the
challenges those people face. It will draw you in for life."

    About the Annual Letter
    - Bill Gates' 2011 annual letter can be found at:
      www.gatesfoundation.org/annualletter
    - A live webcast of the "Polio Eradication and the Power of Vaccines"
      event on January 31, 2011 can be viewed at:
      www.gatesfoundation.org at 9:30 am ET / 6:30 am PT

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In
developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them
the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the
United States, it seeks to ensure that all people-especially those with the
fewest resources-have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in
school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO
Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill
and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

For high-resolution still photography and broadcast-quality footage,
please visit: www.gatesfoundation.org/press-room/Pages/news-market.aspx.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, +1-206-709-3400, media at gatesfoundation.org