Ivory Coast gained its independence from France in 1960 and until recently had been one of the most stable and prosperous nations in tropical Africa. On Dec. 25, 1999, a military coup overthrew the government, followed by widespread violence and bloodshed in elections last fall and a failed coup in January. A new government has been named, but tensions remain between the nation's Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.

Ivory Coast is among the world's largest producers and exporters of coffee, cocoa beans and palm oil. The life expectancy of its 16 million people is about 45 years. About one in 10 Ivorians is infected with HIV.

Civil unrest stalls vaccination drive in Ivory Coast
The Ivory Coast was to be a beachhead for Bill Gates’ worldwide assault on childhood disease. But the effort has been stalled by a menace as crippling as polio and, in Africa, as pervasive as malaria: violent political instability.

Nigeria is one of Africa's most corrupt countries. Violent crime, committed by ordinary criminals and police and military officials, occurs throughout the country. Kidnapping for ransom is common. Nigerian-based business, charity and other scams target foreigners worldwide and pose a danger of financial loss. The country is a heavily used link in the drug networks moving heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia and cocaine from South America to Western Europe and North America.

Last year, several parts of Nigeria suffered from ethnic-religious conflicts that resulted in hundreds of deaths. The nation is moving slowly -- and most peacefully -- from almost 16 years of military control to civilian rule after a new constitution was adopted in 1999. The new president faces the daunting task of rebuilding a petroleum-based economy, whole revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. The average life expectancy for Nigeria's 123 million people is about 51 years.

‘A breakdown of our primary health care system’
Nigeria offers the best example of the biggest challenge the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation faces in its quest to reduce disease, providing lessons in achieving sustainable improvements and self-reliance in poor countries.

Gambia gained its independence from Great Britain in 1965. It formed a short-lived federation with Senegal in the late 1980s, which dissolved in 1991. In 1994, a military coup overthrew the president, but Gambia returned to civilian rule with presidential elections and the adoption of a new constitution in 1996. It accepted a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council during 1998 and 1999.

The nation has no important mineral or other natural resources and its population depends on crops and livestock for its livelihood. Peanuts, fish and hides form the backbone of its small-scale manufacturing economy. The life expectancy of its roughly 1.4 million residents is 53 years.

In steamy Gambia, frontline research into disease
Half a century of British-sponsored research in Gambia created a leading laboratory for tropical medicine and for the effort to develop vaccines for malaria and respiratory illnesses -- top killers of children worldwide. The cooperative relationship between the researchers at the Medical Research Council Laboratories and the Gambian government won the attention of Bill Gates, who is helping to finance projects in The Gambia. He would like to see the relationship repeated elsewhere.