Earlier this week, tech billionaire Bill Gates issued a warning to Australia to be ready for the next pandemic, which he suggested could be man-made and far more brutal than COVID-19.
Gates was speaking to the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney, telling political leaders to set aside their differences to prepare for the next virus, calling for greater global cooperation using the COVID pandemic as an example on how countries could operate together better if they worked together.
“Compare the economic cost of being prepared for the next one to the cost of this one, over $10 trillion economic loss,” he said. “With the pandemic we were foolish not to have the tools, the practice and global capacity to be on standby like we do with fire or earthquakes.”
Gates praised Australia’s policies in helping to keep infection rates low before vaccines were rolled out, which involved setting up “quarantine facilities,” where individuals would be relocated if they tested positive for the virus.
“Some of the things that stand out are that Australia and about seven other countries did population scale diagnostics early on and had quarantine policies,” he said. “That meant you kept the level of infection low in that first year when there were no vaccines.”
The Microsoft founder said that a stable international order based on mutual political will is needed in order to deal with future pandemics.
“The one thing that still hangs in the balance is will we have the global capacity and at the regional and country levels that would mean that when a … threat comes up we act in such a way that it doesn’t go global,” Gates said. “We need to be doing every five years a comprehensive exercise at both country and regional levels of pandemic preparedness and you need a global group that’s scoring everybody.”
Gates has said he plans to donate half of his fortune to good causes to try to bring equality to health, energy and education industries.
“There is this huge failure of market capitalism to look at some of the needs of the poorest. Their voice in the marketplace is very small,” he said. “You can literally save lives for $1,000 and there isn’t much around that should be as fulfilling as that.”
Gates also criticized the U.S. under former President Donald Trump when he threatened to withdraw from the World Health Organization and withhold funding. He advocated for additional resources to be given to the international health community.
Gates suggested that the U.S., and by extension Australia, needed to be more conciliatory and cooperative in their political approach to China as they attempt to tackle problems such as climate change.
“I see China’s rise as a huge win for the world … the current mentality of the U.S. to China, and which is reciprocated, is kind of a lose-lose mentality,” he said. “That could be very self-fulfilling in a very negative way.”
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