Over the next 15 years the world can expect to see child deaths cut in half, the eradication of polio, guinea worm and river blindness, and there will be a single-dose cure for malaria, according to the annual letter from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"We are doubling down on the bet we made 15 years ago, and picking ambitious goals for what's possible 15 years from now," the couple wrote in the letter. "The lives of people in poor countries will improve faster in the next 15 years [than ever before.]"
The Gates' admit reaching this goal won't be easy, but they are predicting that farmers in Africa will have access to better fertilizer in the years to come, as well as drought- and disease-resistant crops, allowing yields to double, reported Reuters.
Donated drugs, such as those distributed free to 800 million people last year, can stop polio, elephantiasis and other scourges, are also planned to reach Africa in this time frame.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was established in 2000, distributed $3.6 billion in grants in 2013 - particularly for global health and development. Additionally, the foundation had $42.3 billion in assets as of late 2014, reported Reuters.
The foundation has been making strides in cutting down the percentage of child deaths over the last 25 years.
In 1990, 10 percent of the world's children died before age 5. That percentage has since been cut in half. The Gates expect only one in 40 children to die that early by 2030, reported Reuters.
They plan to cut the percentage of child deaths by partaking in healthier childcare practices such as breastfeeding, better sanitation and vaccines.
