water, sewer, or electrical networks. finally, it should cost less than 5 cents per user per day. high-tech toilets for tackling the growing public health problem of human waste are gaining increasing attention, but this focus on a "technology fix" has also been criticized by many in the sector. however, low-tech solutions may be more practical in poor countries, and research is also funded by the foundation for such toilets. the reinvent the toilet challenge is a long-term research and development effort to develop a hygienic, stand-alone toilet. this challenge is being complemented by another investment program to develop new technologies for improved pit latrine emptying (called by the foundation the "omni-ingestor") and fecal sludge processing (called "omni-processor"). the aim of the "omni processor" is to convert excreta (for example fecal sludge) into beneficial products such as energy and soil nutrients with the potential to develop local business and revenue. examples of transformative technologies research about 200 sanitation projects in many different countries and at various scales – some with a technology focus, some with a focus on market development or policy and advocacy, have received funding from the foundation since 2008. the university of kwazulu-natal in durban, south africa gates foundation was awarded $1.6 million in 2014 to act as a hub for sanitation researchers and product developers. one example of an omni-processor is a combustion-based system designed to turn fecal sludge into energy and drinking water. the development of this particular prototype by u.s.-based company janicki bioenergy attracted media attention for the sanitation crisis and the work of the foundation after bill gates drank water produced from this process. examples for the reinvent the toilet challenge include: scientists at the university of colorado boulder were given funding of $1.8 million to develop a prototype toilet that uses solar heat to treat the fecal matter and produce biochar. funding has been provided to rti international since 2012 to develop a toilet based on electrochemical disinfection and solid waste combustion. other global initiatives some examples include: 2004 indian ocean earthquake: the foundation made total grant donations of $3 million to various charities to help with the aid effort for victims of the earthquake. these charities include: care international, international rescue committee, mercy corps, save the children, and world vision. 2005 kashmir earthquake: the foundation made a donation of $500,000 for the earthquake. in 2014, the gates foundation released "flexible funds" in the order of $50 million to united nations agencies and other organizations involved in the work against the deadly disease ebola in west africa. 2021 emergency funding. the foundation, with a group of philanthropists, has pledged £93.5m funding to cover uk foreign aid cuts. the foundation is a donor to the national geographic society. the foundation is working with mastercard, gavi and truststamp to create the mastercard well pass. this program, being tested in 2020 in west africa, will integrate vaccination records with cashless payment capability. global health division since 2011, the president of the global health program is trevor mundel. the global fund to fight aids, tuberculosis and malaria: the foundation has donated more than $6.6 billion for global health programs, including over $1.3 billion donated as of 2012 on malaria alone, greatly increasing the dollars spent per year on malaria research. before the gates efforts on malaria, malaria drugmakers had largely given up on producing drugs to fight the disease, and the foundation is the world's largest donor to research on diseases of the poor. with the help of gates-funded vaccination drives, deaths from measles in africa have dropped by 90 percent since 2000. the foundation has donated billions of dollars to help sufferers of aids, tuberculosis and malaria, protecting millions of children from death at the hands of preventable diseases. the global health program's other significant grants include: polio eradication: in 2006, the foundation provided $86 million toward efforts attempting to eradicate poliomyelitis (polio). the gavi vaccine alliance: the foundation gave the gavi alliance (formerly the "global alliance for vaccines and immunization") a donation of $750 million on january 25, 2005. children's vaccine program: the children's vaccine program, run by the program for appropriate technology in health (path), received a donation of $27 million to help vaccinate against japanese encephalitis on december 9, 2003. university of washington department of global health: the foundation provided approximately $30 million for the foundation of the new department of global health at the university of washington in seattle, us. the donation promoted three of the foundation's target areas: education, pacific northwest and global health. hiv research: the foundation donated a total of $287 million to various hiv/aids researchers. the money was split between 16 different research teams across the world, on the condition that the findings are shared amongst the teams. aeras global tb vaccine foundation: the foundation gave the aeras global tb vaccine foundation more than $280 million to develop and license an improved vaccine against tuberculosis (tb) for use in high-burden countries (hbcs). cheaper high-tech tuberculosis (tb) test: in august 2012, the foundation, in partnership with pepfar (united states president's emergency plan for aids relief), usaid (united states agency for international development) and unitaid (an international drug purchasing facility hosted by who), announced they had finalized an agreement to reduce the cost of a commercial tb test (cepheid's xpert mtb/rif run on the genexpert platform), from $16.86 to $9.98. this test can take the place of smear microscopy, a technique first developed in the 1880s by robert koch. smear microscopy often does not show tb infection in persons who are also co-infected with hiv, whereas the genexpert system can show tb in the co-infected patient. in addition, the system can show whether the particular tb strain is resistant to the bactericidal antibiotic rifampicin, a widely accepted indicator of the presence of multidrug resistant tuberculosis. visceral leishmaniasis (vl) research: the foundation awarded the hebrew university of jerusalem's kuvin center for the study of infectious and tropical diseases a $5 million grant in 2009 for research into visceral leishmaniasis (vl), an emerging parasitic disease in ethiopia, africa, where it is frequently associated with hiv/aids and is a leading cause of adult illness and death. the project, a collaborative effort with addis ababa university, will gather data for analysis—to identify the weak links in the transmission cycle—and devise methods for control of the disease. in 2005 the foundation provided a $30 million grant to the institute for oneworld health to support the nonprofit pharmaceutical company's vl work in the rural communities of india, bangladesh and nepal. by september 2006, the company had received approval from the indian body drug-controller general of india (dcgi) for the paromomycin intramuscular (im) injection, a drug that provides an effective cure for vl following a 21-day course. in 2010 raj shankar ghosh, the regional director for the south asia institute for oneworld health, explained that the foundation funded "the majority of our work" in the development of the drug. group b streptococcus: the foundation gave $17,252,854 in september 2016 to pfizer to develop a vaccine against group b streptococcus (gbs) for distribution in developing countries. in may 2022, the funding was renewed with an additional $100,000,000. next-generation condom: the foundation gave $100,000 to 11 applicants in november 2013 to develop an improved condom; that is, one that "significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use", according to the gates foundation's grand challenges in global health website. further grants of up to $1 million will be given to projects that are successful. neglected tropical diseases (ntds): alongside who, the governments of the united states, united kingdom and united arab emirates, and the world bank, the foundation endorsed the london declaration on neglected tropical diseases, "to eradicate, eliminate and intensify control of 17 selected diseases by 2015 and 2020", at a meeting on january 30, 2012, held at the royal college of physicians in london, uk. gates was the principal organizer responsible for bringing together the heads of 13 of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and the foundation's monetary commitment to the declaration was $363 million over five years. on april 3, 2014, the two-year anniversary of the declaration, gates attended a meeting in paris at which participants reviewed the progress that had been made against 10 neglected tropical diseases (ntds). the foundation committed a further $50 million, together with $50 million from the children's investment fund foundation and $120 million from the world bank. the foundation has given in excess of $1 million to the end fund, a public-private partnership to deliver medication for ntds to areas in need. monoclonal antibody therapies: in october 2018, the foundation awarded $8,279,723 to inovio pharmaceuticals to fund the development of "next-generation" delivery methods for monoclonal antibodies targeted for use in low- and middle-income countries. coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations (cepi): a global group tasked with more quickly developing vaccines against infectious disease threats worldwide was launched on january 8, 2017, by a coalition of governments and nonprofit groups including the bill & melinda gates foundation. the coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations, funded with an initial investment of $460 million from germany, japan, norway, the wellcome trust and the gates foundation, aims to develop vaccines against known infectious disease threats that could be deployed quickly to contain outbreaks before they become global health emergencies, the group said in a statement at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. covid-19 beginning in 2020, the bill & melinda gates foundation has provided hundreds of millions of dollars of funding towards initiatives surrounding the covid-19 public health crisis. covid-19 therapeutics accelerator in 2020, together with the uk research charity wellcome and mastercard, the gates foundation established the covid-19 therapeutics accelerator to hasten the development and evaluation of new and repurposed drugs and biologics to treat patients for covid-19. after the world health organization's appeal for funding, the gates foundation pledged an extra us$150 million on top of the us$100 million already committed earlier. by april 2020, the foundation had provided backing for six candidates for vaccines against covid-19. in june, the foundation tapped the national university of singapore to investigate which countries in asia responded effectively to the pandemic. on june 26, the foundation and its partners with the covid-19 therapeutics accelerator announced the launch of the international covid-19 data alliance (icoda) to be hosted at health data research uk. in december 2020, the foundation solicited applications for funding for researchers at mcmaster university to develop epidemiological models for sars-cov-2, as well as covid-19 vaccines, treatments and non-pharmaceutical interventions. the foundation re-upped its support of icoda in may 2021 with a grant of $577,246. in august 2021, the foundation awarded a $587,568 grant to wits health consortium to test the effectiveness of the covid-19 vaccines distributed in south africa by johnson & johnson and pfizer. in november 2021, the foundation gave $2,118,334 to providence therapeutics to develop more cost-effective mrna vaccines. united states division under president allan golston, the united states program has made grants such as the following: donation to planned parenthood up to 2013, the bill & melinda gates foundation provided $71 million to planned parenthood and affiliated organizations. in 2014, melinda gates has stated that the foundation "has decided not to fund abortion", focusing instead on family planning and contraception in order to avoid conflation of abortion and family planning. in response to questions about this decision, gates stated in a june 2014 blog post that ", like everyone else, struggle with the issue" and that "the emotional and personal debate about abortion is threatening to get in the way of the lifesaving consensus regarding basic family planning". since this time, their endeavors have shifted to a more global perspective, focusing on voluntary family planning and maternal and newborn health. libraries in 1997, the charity introduced a u.s. libraries initiative with a goal of "ensuring that if you can get to a public library, you can reach the internet". only 35% of the world's population has access to the internet. the foundation has given grants, installed computers and software, and provided training and technical support in partnership with public libraries nationwide to increase access and knowledge. helping provide access and training for these resources, this foundation helps move public libraries into the digital age. most recently, the foundation gave a $12.2 million grant to