I'm not sure I would classify yours as big problems either. We have plenty of food and anti-malarial medicine.

We lack the will to pay for it and the ability to distribute it effectively in the midst of corrupt/brutal governments without empowering said governments. I'd argue that solving the latter is a Big Problem although not one I imagine a for-profit company solving.

I just donated 200 bucks to the Against Malaria Foundation.

Your comment is the direct reason for this.

This is essentially a quibble over semantics. It's like if I did something for somebody and he told me, "Wow, you're the best!" and I replied "Nah, Shaq is a much better basketball player than I am." Most likely he isn't praising my skill at dunking.

When you say "big," you appear to mean "severe and life-threatening". When he says it, he appears to mean something like "broad in scope, requiring an extremely complex solution."

Malaria prevention doesn't really fit the latter definition, though it does fit the unrelated definition you're using.

Bill Gates' startup will do more about that problem than almost any other organization.

To be fair, medical errors are a "TRULY" big problem, and I'm sure that poor/inaccurate/incomplete record-keeping isn't helping things.

If doctors had access to perfect data on their patients medical history would they actually use it?

No. My doctors regularly don't read the forms I fill out before the visit. (I know this because they ask the same questions that were on the forms and act surprised at the answers.)

i agree with you. the dmv is a big problem. world hunger is a really big problem.