Bill Gates warned that governments must prepare for future pandemics and smallpox-based bioterrorism attacks by investing billions of dollars in research and development. The Microsoft founder made this warning during a Policy Shift meeting with Jeremy Hunt, chair of the Health Choice Committee. Gates also called for the establishment of a new billion-dollar World Health Organization Pandemic Task Force.
Bill Gates says this type of work can be expensive, but it could also lead to other innovations, such as eliminating the flu and colds. Going into detail, Gates emphasized that countries such as the USA and the UK should spend “tens of billions” to finance the research: “I hope to be able to write a book called ‘We are ready for the next epidemic’ in five years. However, R&D efforts will require tens of billions of dollars. I know. The US and the UK should be part of it. At the WHO level, it would take about a billion dollars a year for a pandemic Task Force doing what I call “germ games.”
Gates further suggested that “germ games” could include preparing for acts of bioterrorism, such as smallpox attacks on airports: “What if a bioterrorist brought smallpox to 10 airports? How would the world react? There are epidemics.”
Adding that he will continue to work as a philanthropist, Bill Gates concluded his statements with the following words: “With the climate message and the ongoing fight against the diseases of the poor, I will talk more about pandemic preparedness. And I think my words will find fertile ground because, you know, trillions of dollars and We’ve lost millions of lives. And citizens expect their governments not to let that happen again.”
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