WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Saying that medical science has solved the "easy" problems of the rich world, Microsoft founder Bill Gates Sunday announced a $200 million fund aimed at luring researchers into finding original cures for the poor world's ailments.
The $200 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be used to set up the "Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative" which will dole out money in grants of up to $20 million each to scientists around the world.
"By accelerating research to overcome scientific obstacles in AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, millions of lives could be saved," Gates told reporters in a telephone interview.
"Of the, say, 1,500 new medicines that have been approved in the last 25 years, only 20 of those have related to the diseases of the developing countries," added Gates, who was to announce the new fund at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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News source: CNN
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