Social media was recently abuzz about comments Bill Gates made in a 2010 TED Talk, specifically when he said, “Now, if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that [the global population] by, perhaps, 10 or 15 percent.” (Video here: https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_innovating_to_zero/transcript?language=en). People actually thought Gates was suggesting the global population should be killed off using vaccines! But, thanks to HS 345 we know better; Bill Gates might not be a saint, but he’s no neo-Malthusian! Explain how public health investments, such as those mentioned by Gates, will actually reduce population growth in low- and middle-income countries. In your answer, be sure to fully describe the stages of the “demographic transition” model. Finally, describe what factors besides population impact sustainability.
