Billionaire philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates urged the international community Wednesday to seize on a “historic opportunity” to eradicate malaria around the world.The founders of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said an influx of new research, funds and energy in the public and private sectors to combat malaria has made them optimistic that their ambitious, long-term goal can be met.

“Bill and I believe that these advances in science and medicine, your promising research, and the rising concern of people around the world represent an historic opportunity not just to treat malaria or to control it — but to chart a long-term course to eradicate it,” Melinda Gates told a gathering of international scientists and policymakers in Seattle, Washington

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