Jakarta Globe, SP/Dina Manafe, Apr 03, 2014
Jakarta. Microsoft founder Bill Gates will visit Jakarta on April 5 to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian government to launch the Indonesia Health Fund, a five-year charitable pool to which philanthropists can contribute in order to expand healthcare access to some of the country’s poorest people.
Malaria patients undergo treatment at a small clinic in Timika, Papua. (JG Photo/Jurnasyanto Sukarno) |
Jakarta. Microsoft founder Bill Gates will visit Jakarta on April 5 to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian government to launch the Indonesia Health Fund, a five-year charitable pool to which philanthropists can contribute in order to expand healthcare access to some of the country’s poorest people.
“The
government is appreciative and grateful,” Coordinating Minister of People’s
Welfare Agung Laksono said on Wednesday. “This is an initiative deserving of
praise and it is expected to help the government’s efforts in tackling health
problems faced by the Indonesian people.”
The Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, the philanthropic effort for which the former
Microsoft chief executive now works full time, announced in October last year
that it would match a $75 million funding commitment from the Tahir Foundation,
an organization backed by the Mayapada Group, and Indonesian conglomerate. The
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria received $65 million, and
an additional $10 million was allocated toward providing women with access to
family planning, a press release said. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
said it would match both sums.
The two
foundations began a joint venture in April, 2013, with a $200 million
partnership that marked the first public-private partnership for the Gates
Foundation. Among its aims was the commitment to end polio by 2018.
The new IHF
will focus on tackling four communicable diseases — dengue fever, HIV/AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis — and expanding Indonesia’s family-planning
provisions.
Agung said
Gates would visit community healthcare centers (Puskesmas) and meet with
Indonesian philanthropists on April 5, while Tahir Foundation chairman Dato Sri
Tahir said Gates would also meet with Indonesian media to discuss the aims of
the program.
Tahir said
eight businesspeople would also sign the memorandum on April 5 to confirm
donations they were making to the IHF. He declined to name the eight.
“Through
the IHF, we will gather strength from [private donors] as a contribution to
addressing healthcare issues in Indonesia,” Tahir said, adding that the fund
was earmarked to last five years.
The World
Health Organization (WHO) said around 50 percent of Indonesians lived in areas
where malaria was classified as endemic. The mosquito-borne disease infects
millions of people every year and is responsible for around 30,000 annual
deaths.
The Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation in the United
States, with an asset trust endowment of $40.2 billion. It has won
international renown for efforts to eradicate disease and mitigate poverty.
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