Bill Gates Talks About ‘Condom King’ Mechai Viravaidya In An Inspirational Instagram Post

Back in the day when we didn’t have the internet in the palm of our hands, population control and spreading of diseases like AIDS were a problem due to lack of information. However, despite having statistical data about the harmful effects of overpopulation now, many countries still continue to expand. But now the reason is the stigma around contraception. That’s why Bill Gates decided to fix that with the help of social activist Mechai Viravaidya.

Bill Gates recently took to Instagram to talk about Mechai Viravaidya and praise the work he has done for encouraging family planning in Thailand and achieve significant decline in HIV infections.

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In a country where most people were uneasy discussing sex, Mechai Viravaidya pushed the conversation out into the open. He made contraceptives readily available throughout the country, and even launched a chain of restaurants named Condoms and Cabbages. Mechai has helped improve the lives of millions of people in Thailand. And the Thai people have thanked him with an honor that is perhaps the greatest measure of his impact. When people in Thailand want a condom, they don’t call it a condom. Instead, they refer to it by the name of the man who taught them the importance of using one – they ask for a “Mechai.”

A post shared by Bill Gates (@thisisbillgates) on Oct 25, 2018 at 11:40am PDT

His post read:

Bill Gates also published a blog post named ‘All Hail The Condom King’ to talk about the shared history between him and Mechai, and also shed light on the steps he took to destigmatise the use of condoms.

Additionally, Bill requested the world to take Mechai’s example since it has been so effective in Thailand.

“The world can continue to learn from Mechai’s efforts to expand access to contraceptives. Far too many people become infected with HIV each year. Too often, the people facing the greatest risk—including young women, sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who use drugs—do not have access to the contraceptives they need to protect themselves.”

You can also watch the YouTube video that Bill Gates put up to promote Mechai’s body of work:

Although Bill Gates is from a field that’s largely about software and hardware, he has time and again spoken about population control. And since most governments have tried to do it in a very boring manner (and failed), maybe they should now consider Bill’s suggestion and take the route that Mechai Viravaidya has practiced and perfected.