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Improved access to contraceptives has lasting benefits.

One of the wealthiest women on earth, Melinda Gates, recently opened up about an unexpected secret to her success: contraceptives.

The 52-year-old billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist detailed her intersection of personal and professional success in a blog post for Fortune. In it, she talks about the importance of making contraception available to women around the world, one of the core issues being addressed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In doing so, she touches on how important family planning resources were in her own success.

"It’s no accident that my three kids were born three years apart — or that I didn’t have my first child until I'd finished graduate school and devoted a decade to my career at Microsoft," she wrote. "My family, my career, my life as I know it are all the direct result of contraceptives. And now, I realize how lucky that makes me."

President Barack Obama awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Melinda Gates for their work fighting poverty in 2016. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

In 2012, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged to bring contraception to 120 million women around the world.

The bold strategy, part of the group's Family Planning 2020 initiative, highlights the role that access to birth control has in lifting developing countries out of poverty. In July 2012, the foundation committed to spending more than $1 billion toward contraception access and information. In November 2015, the group committed an additional $120 million to the program.

The 2015 boost was intended to focus on three specific priorities: improving the quality of services and increasing the number of contraceptive options, reaching marginalized committees, and investing in local advocates around the globe to make the case for using family planning services.

In the foundation's most recent annual letter, they recommitted themselves to meeting 2012's ambitious goal. That matters.

While an additional 30.2 million women have access to contraception because of the Gates Foundation's work, they're a little behind the pace needed to hit the 120 million goal.

But they've got a plan, and it involves making the most of emerging technologies and long-term birth control solutions, as well as increasing their public advocacy. Overall, the family planning aspect of the Gates Foundation's work is just part of their overall campaign, which also includes improving access to vaccines, reducing infant mortality, and reducing malnutrition in developing countries.

Access to family planning is an essential component of any anti-poverty program.

"When a country sends a generation of healthy, well-educated young people into the workforce, it’s on its way out of poverty," Melinda explained in the foundation's letter. "But this doesn’t happen by accident. No country in the last 50 years has emerged from poverty without expanding access to contraceptives."

On Twitter, she posted a short video explaining how family planning triggers a "virtuous cycle."

— (@)

With President Trump's reinstatement of the global gag rule, the Gates Foundation's renewed commitment to making contraception accessible is more important than ever.

In one of his first acts as president, Trump reinstated the so-called "global gag rule," a Reagan-era policy that restricts U.S. funding to organizations that so much as mention abortion as part of their family planning services. At risk is roughly $9.5 billion in global health funding. In a move that is ostensibly meant to reduce abortion, the likely result is a decrease in overall family planning services for women around the world, meaning more unplanned pregnancies, which means, yes, more abortions.

In recent years, the U.S. has seen its teen pregnancy rate drop by 25% for two really simple reasons: increasing access to contraception and improved sex education. After making access to long-term birth control available for free, Colorado saw its own teen pregnancy rate drop by 40%!

In her letter, Gates explained how she came to understand the global need for contraceptive access beyond her own personal experience.

"Most of the women I talk to in the field bring up contraceptives. I remember visiting the home of a mother in Niger named Sadi, whose six children were competing for her attention as we talked. She told me, 'It wouldn’t be fair for me to have another child. I can’t afford to feed the ones I have,'" Gates wrote.

"In a Kenyan slum, I met a young mother named Mary who had a business selling backpacks from scraps of blue-jean fabric. She invited me into her home, where she was sewing and watching her two small children. She used contraceptives because, she said, 'Life is tough.' I asked if her husband supported her decision. She said, 'He knows life is tough, too.'"

Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images.

For more information on the Gates Foundation's work getting contraceptives to women in developing countries, check out the video below.

While Upworthy has a proud partnership with The Gates Foundation, I was not paid by the foundation to write this article.

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In 1962, a chance encounter with Martin Luther King Jr. would transform the life of a young medical student named Larry Brilliant.

Larry Brilliant with an early Apple II computer. All images courtesy of HarperCollins.

Dr. Brilliant would go on to help eradicate smallpox, direct Google.org, help save 4 million people from blindness, and become one of the foremost experts in global pandemics.

But at 19 years old, Brilliant was holed up in his dorm room, subsisting on stale peanut candy and comic books, grief-stricken at the thought of losing his father to cancer.

One rainy Michigan day, Brilliant pulled himself out of his dorm and stumbled into an auditorium to see a black preacher from Atlanta, Georgia, speak of hope, truth, and justice.

Only 60 students stood in a cavernous room meant for 3,000. The school administrators were embarrassed by the low turnout, but Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t. Chuckling warmly, he told the assembly, “Why don’t y’all come up here. That way, there’s more of me to go around.”

Martin Luther King Jr. at the University of Michigan, 1962.

Brilliant joined the others at King's feet and sat transfixed as a one-hour lecture turned into six.

“[King] famously talked about the arc of the moral universe that would bend towards justice, but it wouldn’t bend on its own. You have to jump up, drag it, twist it, pull it down towards justice. You have to influence that arc,” Brilliant said.

The experience changed Brilliant. He knew he couldn’t just lie around feeling unmotivated.

Brilliant started a journey of self-discovery and transformation that would help save the lives of millions in the process.

Inspired by King, Brilliant became an activist. He marched in civil rights rallies. In 1970, he delivered a Native American baby on Alcatraz Island during a standoff with the United States government. He even saved the life of a former Green Beret who attacked him on the island with a knife.

Larry Brilliant at Alcatraz Island.

Ensuing fame led to a call from Warner Brothers, and soon, Brilliant was starring in a "Woodstock on wheels" film called "Medicine Ball Caravan," playing a doctor alongside musical luminaries like Alice Cooper and B.B. King. Then, he ended up taking a caravan across the Khyber Pass with his wife, Girija, and his best friend, a hippie named Wavy Gravy.

Brilliant's adventures can seem too wild to be true. But, through it all, he was on the way to finding his destiny.

In 1972, Brilliant ended up in the Himalayas at the feet of a holy man. The guru, named Neem Karoli Baba, clasped Brilliant's hand and gave him the realization of a deep, profound, and universal love for everyone in the world.

Brilliant with his guru, Neem Karoli Baba.

“These machines that we live in, these bodies, they don’t come with an operating manual, and I did not know that mine was capable. I didn’t know where the on switch was that loved everybody. But he turned it on,” Brilliant said of their meeting.

The guru — who referred to Brilliant as "Dr. America" — told him that his destiny would be to work to cure one of the worst pandemics of all time: smallpox.

Smallpox killed over 300 million people in the 20th century, and it was wreaking havoc on families in India.

Following the instructions of his guru, the now 27-year-old Brilliant took the 17-hour train ride to the World Health Organization headquarters in New Delhi. But success didn't happen overnight for the young doctor.

“I was kicked out in 30 seconds," Brilliant said. "I walked in with a dress on, and a beard down to my knees, and it was a gown. But you know, they thought it looked like a dress. It was an ashram robe. And they kicked me out." 13 attempts later, he finally got the lowest paid job there.

In just a few years, Brilliant went on to lead a WHO team that would play a key role in eradicating smallpox.

Smallpox eradication team from Chota Nagpur.

Brilliant recalled that there were staff from 170 different countries in the WHO smallpox eradication program — all fighting the disease together despite deep division among many of their countries.

"In the middle of the Cold War, Russians and Americans worked together to eradicate smallpox, and the people sitting around the table were from every race, every religion, every language you could think of," Brilliant said.

The team was greater than the sum of their parts, and in 1975, they won. Brilliant saw the last case of killer smallpox with his own eyes: a girl named Rahima Banu. After contracting the disease at 2 years old, she was cured.

Rahima Banu, the last known smallpox patient.

Brilliant went on to mobilize friends — including Steve Jobs, whom he had met in his Guru's ashram in India — to do even more good.

He contacted former members from WHO and created Seva, an organization that gave sight to 4 million blind people.

He became executive director of Google.org and won the TED Prize. He laid out his wish for an early warning system to stop pandemics and helped create Google Flu Trends.

He chaired the Skoll Global Threats Fund, becoming one of humanity's greatest hopes in the fight against global pandemics.

Ultimately, Brilliant is one of the biggest heroes in global health today.

Larry Brilliant gives polio vaccine drops in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, India.

He's truly lived a "brilliant" life. Just like many of us, he’s struggled with depression and fear, and he's wondered what his purpose was — but he's always known to listen.

"I used to tell my students when I was a professor, always expect the imponderabilia. That’s a made-up word," Brilliant said. "It’s a little creature that comes upon you when you least expect it and whispers in your ear something you haven’t thought of. Always expect that little unexpected twist. Always be willing to listen."

Brilliant’s story teaches us that incredible human accomplishments can only be achieved through faith in ourselves and joining together with a common goal in mind. It takes all of us to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.

"We can't ask a child to feed her mind when she can barely feed her stomach."

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This July, while most of us were embracing air conditioning and watching presidential candidates butt heads, Congress did something amazing.

It didn't make many headlines, but it should have. This summer, the House of Representatives tried to pass historic bipartisan legislation. I repeat: historic. bipartisan. legislation.

And they did it!

Political gridlock be gone!

Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the Global Food Security Act, a landmark bill to reduce global hunger.

I like to think this was President Obama when it came to his desk for signature:

Doin' a little happy dance. GIF via "Ellen."

The Global Food Security Act marks the first time in our history that the U.S. government — the largest provider of international aid — has actually passed a comprehensive strategy around food and nutrition security.

This is big on many levels.

The law will work to reduce food insecurity for the nearly 800 million people worldwide who suffer from chronic hunger.

It will help to reduce hunger, malnutrition, and poverty by focusing on agriculture initiatives, small food producers, and the nutrition of women and children.

According to Global Citizen, the $7 billion allocated for the efforts will guarantee two years of funding for food security investments, mainly to smallholder and female farmers. It will also provide two years of funding toward our country's response to natural and man-made disasters, which helps keep America safe by containing conflict. It will also improve the coordination between different parts of the government, helping to reduce waste and increase transparency.

Perhaps the best part is the evidence that these efforts work.

Image via iStock.

In Malawi, for example, every $1 invested in an empowering loan program for women helped to generate $29 for their community. That was just through one program.

In another case, 9 million small-scale farmers and rural families were able to increase their incomes by more than $800 million through improvements to their agricultural practices. That was just over the course of one year. Thanks, Obama.

Can you imagine those results on a much larger scale? That's the beauty of the Global Food Security Act.

Image via iStock.

The law will focus on certain areas of the world, but the U.S. still stands to benefit. How?

In a time when national security is on everyone's radar, reducing hunger will advance stability and security overseas — and in our own backyards.

"We’ve seen how spikes in food prices can plunge millions into poverty and hunger, as well as spark riots that cost lives and lead to instability," says National Security Advisor Susan Rice. "This danger only grows as a surging global population isn’t matched by surging food production."

She's right. We have enough food to feed 12 billion people. And yet, 800 million people are undernourished. Working to reduce global hunger will help advance international peace and security. And that's not just a political move — it's a moral one.

So, thanks, Congress.

Over the years, partisan bickering and polarization has created such extreme gridlock in Washington that many Americans doubt our political process canactually work to make good things happen — so much so that we're shocked when it does.

The passing of this legislation with numerous champions on both sides of the aisle provides hope that bipartisan efforts do stand a chance.

Because, real talk, we can only move forward when we're working together. Investing our resources in ending hunger once and for all is a great place to start.

Heroes

These worms get under your skin, literally. The hero fighting them? Jimmy Freaking Carter.

This is shaping up to be one of the biggest public health success stories of our time.

True

If you lived in northeastern Uganda 25 years ago and drank from public water sources, there was a pretty high chance that you'd contract a common but excruciating illness.

Guinea worm disease starts with a pain in your leg or foot, then a blister. Eventually, a parasite emerges from the wound. During this time, the pain is often so intense that you might not be able to work, take care of your family, or even walk.

It’s horrifying to even think about. But guinea worm has been a thing of the past for Ugandanssince 2009.

Recently, guinea worm disease hit another major milestone: It's almost gone.

This change from full-blown public health crisis to nearly eradicated in only 30 years is a huge, life-changing deal for communities across the globe. And former President Jimmy Carter made it happen.

Carter visited Lojura, Sudan, in 2010 and was struck by how awful guinea worm is. After this visit, he made eradicating the disease his personal mission. Photo by Peter Martell/ AFP Photo/ Getty Images.

Carter’s nonprofit, The Carter Center, launched its guinea worm eradication program 30 years ago, in 1986. When Carter decided to make guinea worm his cause, there were about 3.5 million people suffering from guinea worm infections — and just as daunting, there were no vaccines or medicines to treat it.

In 2015, there were only 22 guinea worm infections in the world — down from 126 in 2014.

How did it happen? Hard work, smart public education campaigns, and lots of clean water.

Guinea worm spreads through water. About a year after someone drinks water infected with guinea worm larvae, they get a blister, and the parasite begins to come out of the body. So the most important step was to keep guinea worm larvae out of drinking water.

The Carter Center built wells, gave water filters to villages, and worked to keep people with infections from bathing in water sources.

The center also relied on community health workers to provide education on preventing guinea worm disease.

“I’ve sometimes had thousands of students from schools lined up outside on the highway when I come into the village. In Nigeria, they had big signs that said, ‘Watch out, Guinea worm, here comes Jimmy Carter!’ That makes you feel good,” Carter said in a recent NPR interview.

There are only four countries left with documented guinea worm cases, which means we could see its end very soon. We went from more than 3 million infections to fewer than 25 in just three decades — solely from effective prevention methods.

This is already shaping up to be one of the biggest public health success stories since, well, the beginning of time.

As it approaches the eradication of guinea worm disease, the Carter Center has expanded its focus to include cultivating peace, protecting human rights, and eliminating other harmful diseases in the same way.

Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images.

“I would like the last guinea worm to die before I do,” Carter said at a news conference last August.

Heroes

2 sisters see the world for the first time ever, thanks to a 15-minute procedure.

This is the best thing I've seen in a long time.

Did you know that blindness is 500% more prevalent in developing countries?

Whoa, that is a lot. And not only that, but about half of the blind kids and adults in the developing world could get their eyesight back with a relatively straightforward surgery.

National Geographic brings us the story of sisters Anita and Sonia, who come from a very poor family in India.

All GIFs via National Geographic/YouTube.

They've been blind since birth.

When kids from acutely poor families remain blind for life, their families often send them to beg on the street. But there is an amazing way out.

Like an "in-15-minutes-you'll-have-eyesight" way out.

See, there's this miracle surgery that can restore the eyesight of a blind child in 15 minutes.

15 MINUTES! And the organization 20/20/20 is helping thousands of kids receive the treatment for free.

Imagine giving someone the gift of sight. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

Anita and Sonia were able to get the surgery. Their reactions after the bandages came off? Incredible.

To see Anita and Sonia's full story and hear from their parents and doctor, check out the video below.

Heroes

'Peek' is a new way to test your eye health — all through a phone.

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The day finally arrived for Dr. Hillary Rono to test a technology that could help blind people see again.

He was so pumped, and rightfully so.

A revolution! GIFs via DiamondJubileeTrust/YouTube.

He only needed his phone to do it.

And let's be real, we all know he was going to bring that with him anyway.

Rono and his team were finally going to put Peek — the Portable Eye Examination Kit — to the test. It's a genius idea that Rono, Dr. Andrew Bastawrous, and many others worked hard to develop.

Peek was developed by Bastawrous, Rono, and many others. It's a smartphone technology that makes eye exams easier, more affordable, and more accessible from anywhere in the world. There are no fancy machines or expensive gear involved. Instead, it's all done through your phone.

Rono had every right to be excited. Especially because the technology worked during the test.

“I thought we'd probably find 4 or 5 people with eye problems," he said. "But to my surprise, we've seen 50 to 100, and all have eye problems."

That was just in one trip to the village. And in every village, Rono used the Peek adapter over the built-in camera on his phone to see high quality images of the eye. Then he was able to determine the overall health of the eye and what steps needed to be taken next for treatment.

The app can help detect cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes, and even signs of malaria.

And it's catching on. In Kenya, where there are only two eye doctors for every one million people, Rono can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that he can reach more people than ever before.

"When I began in the hospital, I was alone with one nurse. We were seeing 15 people in outpatients every day, and that year we operated on only 98," he said in a feature by Duck Rabbit.

"At the moment, we are seeing now 20,000 people treated for avoidable blindness and operating on 2,000 [people] a year."

20,000?!! That's progress. People who live in remote areas, who normally go without health care, are now able to access these services a lot more easily because they're so portable.

And considering that 80% of blindness in the world is preventable and curable, technology like Peek has the potential to change eyesight as we know it.

It's not meant to replace other eye equipment, but rather allow eye care to happen in areas that never used to have it. And it doesn't take a highly skilled person to use the technology, either. You simpy snap the photos and send them through your phone to a trained professional.

You'll probably be hearing about Peek more because it's planned to be released more widely in early 2016. Until then, see more about the incredible impact it's made so far in testing:

Last week, President Obama traveled to Charleston, West Virginia, for a candid conversation about substance abuse.

President Obama speaks at East End Family Resource Center in Charleston, West Virginia. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.

Before leading a panel discussion, the president talked about the startling toll that substance abuse has taken on the country and on the Mountain State in particular.

The problem has reached epidemic proportions as 44 people in the United States die each day from overdoses of prescription painkillers. West Virginia has the highest overdose death rate in the country with nearly 34 per 100,000 residents.

"The numbers are big," said Obama. "But behind those numbers are incredible pain for families."

Hours after watching the president's remarks on television, one man took a brave step to change his life.

He called 911, admitted he had a drug problem, and asked deputies to come to his home.

When they arrived, the man (whose name was not released) put his hands on the wall and directed the deputies to a cooler full of drugs and paraphernalia, including marijuana, ecstasy, pain pills, and a digital scale.

A photo of the items seized by the police. Photo by Kanawha County Sheriff's Office, used with permission.

And the officers did something equally impressive: They didn't arrest him.

Instead, the man was taken by ambulance to a treatment center, where he voluntarily entered a rehabilitation program. The sheriff's department declined to file charges and released a statement saying, "We applaud this person's self-initiated efforts and wish him well in his recovery."

Photo by iStock.

The complex problem of substance will require an innovative, all-hands-on-deck solution.

It's a multifaceted problem (affecting the health care industry, criminal justice system, border security, and schools) that will require a complex, dynamic solution.

And some are trying to find those solutions. In the town of Gloucester, Massachusetts, Police Chief Leonard Campanello announced this summer that his officers would no longer arrest drug users who came to them seeking help. In the first two months of the program, over 100 people entered treatment.

Paramedics take a man to the hospital after a possible overdose. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

But we don't have to wait for a silver bullet. We can take a cue from Gloucester and Kanawha County and start with one fewer arrest and one more person in treatment.

They're saving families communities from one more tragedy.