is very honestly........

Educating people is the simplest and most effective thing to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Trying to beat nature with technology is almost a useless cause, but not a lost one. Don't expect the vaccine to last long, if discovered and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if another variant of HIV/AIDS is discovered.

Why so useless? Vaccines for polio and numerous other diseases have virtually wiped them out, correct?

Yes, but those aren't viruses. A virus mutates, which is why we have yet to find a cure or a vaccine for any virus.

Ever tried teaching people though? There are some who just won't listen. Ever. Sometimes, the more you lecture them the more likely they are to do whatever it is you're telling them not to do. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons for it, because when I was in school, at least half of the kids in my class were like that.

With that way of thinking, you could also say it's a waste of time doing surgery to someone who's been stabbed, because if everyone was taught properly they wouldn't go around stabbing each other. Unfortunately it does happen and always will, so that's why it's important to have cures.

wha?? Polio certainly is a virus.

I'm not sure about that one, I don't think it is, but I could be wrong.

Yup, along with measles, small pox, the flu, etc...

We have plenty of vaccines for viri, but we may never have a cure.

If I read correctly, you have (at least partially) placed blame on the educators of the world. Of North Americans, I'm sure that hte majority know how to avoid getting std's and such diseases/virii, but oftentimes they don't care. Take the needle-user for example. When they're heavily addicted to a substance, they likely don't care what condition the needle is in. They know it might be contaminated, but they want the drugs much, much more. Past information they may have learned in high school or through some type of advertising doesn't concern them.
If I did not interpret that correctly, I apoligize.....

Yes, you are wrong.

This is the same man who believes he can solve Third World problems by giving them computers and access to the 'net, so that they may participate in his New World Economy.
Your heart's in the right place, Bill, but that brain keeps interfering.

It's always nice to see Bill donate to a good cause. Hope he can help to find a cure for cancer (in particular breast cancer) because as we rely more on technology, we now spend more time in front of the computer than ever before, and with no signs of slowing down we are sitting there absorbing all that radiation (yes, I know it gives off very little radiation but it adds up over the years right?). Not to mention others like cell phones, microwaves, etc.

I hate to be the voice of cynicism, but could this *possibly* have something to do with the antitrust case? MS donated a lot of money to Bush baby's inaugural ball (and quite probably to the campaign, I don't know), and now they're hoping he'll be able to string enough words together to form a few sentences that tell us we should leave poor Bill Gates and MS alone. "Look at what an incredible humanitarian he is after all."

Or should that be "incredibible"?

Hehe,

Don't take this personally, but this post is perfect evidence that people are never happy unless they're complaining or judging.

To start with, people were complaining that Gates was sucking in lots of money and keeping it all for himself, so he was an evil rich guy doing the wrong thing.

So then he pledges to give away some of his fortune to good causes, and he's still evil and doing the wrong thing, just because it might help prove his innocence in the antitrust case!

This is the real world, not the movies. Therefore I don't think he's doing this to fuel some elaborate conspiracy to take over the world - I do actually think he's doing this to *help* people.

So rather than throwing it back in his face, all of you who are doing so, be grateful! Else he may just turn around and say "stuff the ungreatful swines" and decide not to do it again, and that would be a shame.

Perhaps I didn't explain myself fully. Personally, I don't think the antitrust case has much merit. Yes, MS engaged in predatory business practices, but nothing to warrant the breakup of the company.

However, even though I like MS and Bill Gates, I am not naive enough to believe he is above using AIDS patients to gain sympathy for his company. You are right, this is the real world, and in the real world, corporations buy political power. In the real world, altruism is *extremely* rare.

Does Gates want to take over the world? Of course not. He just wants to keep his company together, and that's fine. He should do whatever he can to keep MS as one unit. But apparently I'm far too jaded to believe that he would spend 100 million without expecting something in return. It's no secret MS was hoping for a Bush presidency. No, Gates is not giving the money to Bush or the GOP, but this show of magnanimity gives a helpful little push to little Bush. They may deny it, they may attack Democrats for it, but Republicans follow public opinion polls too.

Why did he choose AIDS? More people die just from breast cancer, let alone cancer in general. Great strides are being made in cancer research; we could have a cure this century. Why does he not choose to help with that? Here's a *possible* explanation: Perhaps it's because AIDS patients are seen as the dregs of society (note: this is NOT my view). Therefore, "Only a *true* humanitarian could care so much about the lowest of the low."

I can't read his mind; he may truly care about AIDS research, but I am suspicious. If you think your trusting nature makes you a better person than I... well, that's great. Go with it.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/

Why Bill Gates chose AIDS?? He has expressed tremendous interest over the years in research and technology regarding fatal diseases especially in undeveloped countries like Africa.

True, ppl will always be negative about this or that, but for those ppl, I choose just to ignore them - makes life a lot more enjoyable.

I know if I had that much money (as Gates has,) I would be giving a lot more away, not for ppl to love me, or to make MS look good, but it feels good to help people. Imagine funding cancer research and they find the cure! You'd feel so good for so long, and then AIDS???

OK so I couldn't think of a better title, but anyways you practicaly got to boil people these days before you sleep with them. Sure it's nice to be able to afford research for a vaccine, but if you think about it most of the problem is because of uneducated sexual activity. Or ignorance, like it could not happen to me .. sure thing pal. Let's not forget about the careless horney butthead, who just can't keep the horse in the barn. Or the $20 crack hoe who could care less about your protection or food in the fridge as long as her bic lighter is working. These people have no dignity or respect for themselves, or for their next target..err trick. Once again continuious education is the key, but no garuntee. If it is easy to catch (aids), unenlightened people will find it. Case in point: what is the aids of the internet? - aol subscriber base.

just so you all know, nobody dies from HIV anymore. and also for your information, my boyfriend is HIV POS and he's just fine. So am i. We know how to play safe, but sometimes that's not enough.

For the few who care, there is already a vaccine in development, and it's the most promising i've seen in long time. search for "aids vax" last i heard, they were on the 3rd stage of development which is human trials.

Keep in mind, vaccine doesn't mean cure. Far from it...

Yeah, Gates has plenty of money, but 100 million is still lots, and if it's used wisely, it'll be plenty...

As someone said, if people would go for TEST before having another sexual partner, cases would decrease immensely. And for drugs, those are just a total waste of time, period. I use to smoke up, and all that did was make me dumb & not care. And I've seen some of my close friends do hardcore stuff, needless to say, they're not the same ppl anymore, they lie, steal, fight, etc.

For the few who are born with it, my heart goes out to them. I can't imagine what it could be like to be born with such a sickness...

Some people just don't care, especially during certain situations.

See, the problem with this argument is that *obviously* people aren't going for tests or for that matter, not having unprotected sex. Just because you say that doesn't mean people will do it. And if you keep saying it over and over, people still won't do it.

Yes, it sounds like a simple solution: "Hey, go get tested and stop having unprotected sex." But there are 6 billion people on this planet and not all of them are doing this, either because they don't understand, they don't know, or they don't care. So we can stop saying, "Hey, too bad if you have AIDS - you should have gotten tested you dumba**" and start finding real solutions to this problem.

This is done on two fronts: 1. help the people that are already infected and 2. get to the cause of the problem and fix it. Gates is working on #1 by donating money for research into a cure. Other organizations are trying to solve #2 by launching education campaigns, providing information, contraceptives, etc...

I agree that AIDS is a huge problem and all...but to me it is likely that Billy's gesture was at least somewhat political. AIDS carries a lot more political stench than any other disease, including cancer. In my opinion that $100 million should have gone to cancer research...since it can hit anyone, regardless of age, reason, etc, etc, etc. I think the cure for cancer is way more important than saving some horny dude or crack-head. (Of course we all pity the children born with AIDS, totally not their fault.) And, I'm sure we all heard this one : " There is a cure for AIDS, its called prevention) :p

That is a good attitude... "Oh, why don't ppl just go have a test or stop having unprotected sex?"

The fact is that it happens. Instead of flamming people for certain mistakes, perhaps we could work together to find out why the damn human body works in such a way? It's clear that it's the way the brain works which changes the way people think, rather than just the person's soul or whatever being lazy.

I guess the only reason I can think why finding a cure/vaccine for AIDS is that it has the potential to grow rapidly. I don't know what the specific statistics are but something tells me that the number of cancer cases, because they are not specifically avoidable (other than not smoking, etc... i.e. heredity and other "unknowns" play a large roll), are not as dangerous as the number of AIDS cases.

Does that make sense? hrm... anyway, the thinking might be that AIDS is growing and needs to be stopped (just stopped, not wiped out at this point) in a much more dire way than cancer, for example.

I heard this a while back on some AM radio station (and thus the info must be accurate) but with the growing number of AIDS cases comes an even greater although somewhat far-fetched danger. I don't know the specifics (haven't gone to bio lecture in 3 weeks), but it is entirely possible for HIV to combine with another virus, ie the common flu virus. Needless to say this would cause a world-wide crisis, a modern-era black plague, or rather a man-made apocalypse.
I heard of a person who called up an AIDS info hotline regarding the same matter -- he was told they weren't allowed to discuss such matters fearing panic and "AIDS-phobia" (personally I wouldn't let them drink out of MY cup anyway :p ) and was shortly hung up on. ( *Your paranoia kicks in here* )
And so Bill's trying to be the hero again...he pledged billions to black groups to patch racial relations in the past, and he's doing it again for different reasons. The day I deem Bill Gates kind is the day he brings 20 hobo's over to his house for dinner, all expenses paid. But I guess the 100 mill is OK to fight a disease that once may spread by sneezing.

Though $100mil is hardly a rip in Gates' pocket book, I do think it's good he's giving some of his wealth. People who have surpassed the definition of well-off should shed some of their money. I would hope to do the same if I was in that situation.

On another note, such abusive language, as demonstrated by jdulmage, violates the proper etiquette of online forums.

There has been an unwritten law since the time of Rockafeller and Carnagie among millionaire+'s, which says that you should give charitalbe dontations while you are alive, which Bill Gates has been doing all along.

It would seem a better use of time to try and create a vaccine for just a simple virus, and then, you have the building blocks to go on and create it for other, more complicated ones.... but that' just my opinion.

Your gay buddy. Someone does something nice for the world, and you act like a big d*** about it. I happen to know someone that has aids, there one pleeding wish was to get a cure for this virus. You don't know how the **** it feels to watch someone pretty much beg for their life to be saved. Watch what you say around here and appreicate that he is doing this, I know I am and I know that the person I know is too.

If people stopped having unprotected sex and shared needles the number of cases would be far less and we wouldn't have to devote ungodly amounts of resources towards finding a cure.

well, my friend was born with it, cuz her parents had it and they didn't know, because it was too long ago. I'm just trying to say that thank god somebody gives a damn.

How about you learn how to read? I did not attack ANYTHING at all... and yes, I know do know people with AIDS. The fact of the matter is, in my opinion, it would be much more efficient to find a vaccine for a simple virus (like the cold), and then that builds the basis for making vaccines for other viruses.

You really need to learn to not be so emotional, and to not put your own words into my writing.

Ummmm....it doesn't worklike that exactly. I can't find a cure for the common cold and then take that vaccination, work a little magic and have a cure for the flu.

Virii mutate. Your only building blocks that can forma stable foundation are those for the original variations of the virus. If they found a vaccination for the first AIDS vidur, then they could start researching how that virus mtated to create the other variations.

If you could post some information about what makes you so knowledgeable about the process for finding cures to diseases, that might help your argument.

In my opinion, it makes sense to spend as much money as possible on chocolate - feed this to monkeys until they are sick, and then hope that their vomit yields some yet-undiscovered vaccine for syphilis. This is obviously money much more wisely spent and is a direct step twoard finding a cure for AIDS.

?????

Well... obviously, for virii, they cannot use the mothod that is used for non-virus infections, because of the mutations.

The building blocks would be, they found a cure/vaccination for a very simplistic virus, and now know how to make a cure, or vaccinate at least ONE virus. It's just the theory that you start simple, and work your way up to the complex.

Did I every say I was knowlegeable in it? All I did was use simple logic.

?? simple logic on something that is not simple... and logic that has no clear path - logic is deductive... logic infers things based on other facts... logic is "backed up by evidence" - you have done none of this so if you want it to be your opinion, that's fine, but don't call it logic.

Because you did make it sound like an *informed* opinion which I was willing to go along with, I asked for your reasoning (i.e. what information were you using to make that statement that somehow you knew better than the leading scientists of the world and that it would be "more efficient" to do something other than what they were doing).

My sarcasm was intended to show that anybody can just say something without having any reason for it. But that doesn't make sense and it doesn't make it "logic."

well once they figure out how to make a virus that targets a specific gene type we will have retro viruses that will kill only the Signitare Viri of a specific nature ala Aids and and ceveral other desieses even canser they could make a virs to attack it but this technology is about 10 years away and nano tech which is a mechanical way of doing this is 20 - 30 years away

Instead of spending 100 million on a vaccine that may, or may not be found, Mr. Gates should be donating to companies working towards the advancement of nanotechnology (from what I have read, the technology already exists, the problem is in the mass production of it). Nanotechnology would not only be the cure for aids, but for ANY biological virii. Any cancer could also be destroyed with a single injection of nanites into your bloodstream. The implimentations for the technology are limitless.

There are other ways of getting AIDS aside from sex... ie tainted blood transfusions during surgery, being born with it, etc.