Will Warren Buffett's Billions Create More Public Health Jobs?

by Sarah Clark
sarah.clark@careertrainingdirectory.com
Career Training Directory Columnist

Warren Buffett recently announced his decision to donate the majority of his $44 billion fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. What effect, if any, might this gesture have on careers in public health? Buffett’s unprecedented donation will allow the already well-endowed Gates foundation to increase its annual budget from around 1.5 billion to 3 billion.

More Public Health Money Means More Jobs

According to Fortune magazine, the foundation plans to spend the next two years restructuring in an effort to better handle this new infusion of money. It’s likely, then, that some public health jobs will be created, and not just at the Gates Foundation. Expect growth among public health providers and charitable groups that operate in areas with high incidence of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis—illnesses that the Gates Foundation seeks to eradicate by funding the efforts of such public health groups.

The Gates’ Careers in Public Health

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was started in the 1990s. Since then, it has grown into one of the most highly regarded foundations—and the most generous. The foundation had funds reaching $30 billion even before Buffett’s generous donation. It focuses on creating a more equitable society by providing vaccines and health care treatment in places where such treatment has traditionally been unavailable. They are also involved in reforming secondary education and improving access to technology in the U.S.

Public Health Jobs

You might be wondering what type of careers in public health exist? Public health-related jobs in foundations involve making grants to groups that carry out health services, such as clinics and nonprofit groups like Doctors Without Borders. Others work for nonprofits or think tanks, performing research into the best methods of treating large scale health issues, such as HIV and AIDS. They are epidemiologists, statisticians, and others trained to look at how diseases are spread and how they can be contained and eradicated.

Some people work on the front lines in public health jobs. They are nurses, medical assistants, and doctors who distribute drugs and treat people with severe symptoms. People with backgrounds in international affairs and economics also address the socio-economic aspects of these very complex problems of inequality. Learn what you can do to make the world a more equitable place through a career in public health.

Source:

Fortune Magazine

About the Author

Sarah Clark is a freelance writer who specializes in postsecondary education and career development.