"By almost any measure, the world is better than it has ever been. People are living longer, healthier lives. Extreme poverty rates have been cut in half in the past 25 years. Child mortality is plunging. Many nations that were aid recipients are now self-sufficient," he said.

The three biggest myths, according to Gates, are that poor countries are doomed to stay poor, that foreign aid is a big waste and that saving lives leads to overpopulation.

Using data from academics, the World Bank and the United Nations, he makes the opposite case -- arguing that the world is getting better.

"I understand why people might hold these negative views. This is what they see in the news. Bad news happens in dramatic events that are easy for reporters to cover," he said.

"Countries are getting richer, but it's hard to capture that on video. Health is improving, but there's no press conference for children who did not die of malaria."

According to the World Bank's preliminary estimates, the extreme poverty rate was halved between 1990 and 2010. This meant that 21 percent of people in the developing world lived on or below $1.25 a day, down from 43 percent in 1990 and 52 percent in 1981.

The World Bank last year set a goal of decreasing the global extreme poverty rate to no more than 3 percent by 2030.

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