Melinda and I will visit India later this month. I’ve been there many times over the years, but I’m especially excited about this trip. For one thing, India has reached some remarkable milestones in health. Earlier this year, the country was officially declared free of the polio virus for the first time ever, which is a huge accomplishment not only for India but for the global effort to eradicate the disease. Now India is starting to roll out its first home-grown vaccine, which protects children from rotavirus—a disease that each year kills more than 100,000 children in India and 400,000 worldwide. Overall, childhood deaths there have dropped by more than 50 percent since 1990.

All this adds up to a pivotal moment for India: If the country seizes the opportunity to improve health even more, especially for its poorest citizens, it can help hundreds of millions of people improve their lives and share in the country’s prosperity. On our trip, Melinda and I will get to meet with several government leaders. We plan to do a lot of listening. Prime Minister Modi has made key commitments in some areas where our foundation works, like improving the health of women and girls, giving more people access to toilets, and expanding banking services to the poor. We hope to talk with India’s leaders about how we might help accomplish some of their goals.

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