Bill Gates, the co-founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has given funding for the development of improved condoms and wants the people to engage in safe sex.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, also known as the Gates Foundation, was founded by Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates in 1997. The main aim of the Gates Foundation is to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty globally and expand educational opportunities and access to information technology in the U.S.
The Gates Foundation has been involved in various healthcare activities globally and it recently announced that it has granted funding to many scientists and institutions to develop a better-quality condom.
"Condoms save lives but new thinking is needed to ensure that men and women around the world are using them consistently and correctly to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. These projects are working to improve uptake and regular use of male and female condoms by developing new condoms that significantly preserve or enhance pleasure and by developing better packaging or designs that are easier to properly use," per the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Gates Foundation is said to have received 812 applications for the Grand Challenge Exploration (GCE) grant and it chose 11 contestants and awarded them with $100,000 each. Moreover, the successful contestants may also receive up to $1 million after they develop the ideas.
One of the successful contestants, who received the Gates Foundation GCE grant of $100,000 is the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester, who is expected to develop new materials for condoms.
The University of Manchester was the first to find graphene, the thinnest and strongest material known. The researchers are expected to work towards the creation of stronger, thinner condoms that will be made from a substance mixed with latex.
Condoms are available everywhere but many people do not use it. However, a better improved condom may attract people to use it, which in turn can help stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
