Charles Kenny and Getting Better mentioned in Bill Gates' speech at World Health Assembly on AllAfrica.com.
From the Article
Mr Bill Gates: co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Mr. President, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
The World Health Organization and this assembly have set the standard for global cooperation in pursuit of better health. For decades, you have established ambitious goals, such as eradicating smallpox. And you have rallied the world to accomplish those goals. It is an honor to join you today.
I had the privilege of addressing this assembly in 2005, when my wife Melinda and I were new to global health. At that time, we were so optimistic about the future. The world was finally starting to use its greatest resource, innovation, to solve this difficult problem – the fact that billions of people don’t have the chance to lead a healthy, productive life.
In the past six years, my optimism has continued to grow.
An recent important new book Getting Better by the economist Charles Kenny shows that life is getting better, rapidly, for people in poor countries. To build his argument, he examines a series of key quality-of-life indicators, including child survival, school enrollment, and levels of violence.
I hope this book gets the acclaim it deserves. It proves that the great work this assembly has been leading is having an enormous impact. We need the people who make funding decisions and set policy to understand the progress being achieved every day. I believe we have the opportunity to make even more progress, faster, for more people.