The video below was recorded years ago before the pandemic in March 2015 in Vancouver, Canada, which one of the most influential innovators of our time shared possible outcomes that we currently face today. The man speaking in front of the crowd was a software developer, businessman, and philanthropist.
Who is Bill Gates?
Aside from being a software developer, businessman, and philanthropist. He was one of the co-founders of Microsoft Corporation, along with Paul Allen. With his tenure at Microsoft, he became the chairman, chief executive officer, president, chief software architect, and also the largest individual shareholder until May 2014.
One of the world's wealthiest people since 1987, he even surpassed Jeff Bezos in October 2017. As of today, his estimated net worth was at US$163 billion, making him the 3rd richest person in the world. At Microsoft, he transitioned from part-time roles to full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a private charitable foundation established in 2000 with his wife, Melinda Gates.
On March 13, 2020, Bill left the company to focus on his advocacy to philanthropy, including climate change, global health, development, and education.
How did a billionaire and innovator believe a pandemic so stronger than in 1918?
From doing part-time positions at Microsoft while doing philanthropic work on their private charity foundation, Bill spends most of his time discovering what could be the next threat that could claim a lot of lives. During his presentation, he showed a barrel on stage that contains enough supply of food and other essentials.
Possibly we could have another war, but it almost happened. Remember a year ago when one of Iran's top military figures was killed in a single airstrike, and guess who ordered the attack? That was from the past administration as the Iranians stormed the U.S. Embassy, and the whole country mourns the death of Qasem Soleimani - commander of the Quds force and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
As the people of Iran raised their war flag on top of their mosque. We are worried when this war was about to start, but luckily it didn't happen. After the tensions between the U.S. and Iran, there it happened when the 1st case was recorded until it spread throughout the world like wildfire, the current situation we're facing today claimed millions of lives.
Countries from other parts of the globe are now going back with their normal lives, others are still prone to the different variants of the virus. Bill was right. It was not another war, but a microbe that cannot be seen by the naked eye, and this is coming from a billionaire & innovator.
What should we do to prevent the next pandemic according to Bill Gates?
Bill mentioned a few things on what can we do to prevent the next pandemic, by building a fast response system through the advancement of science and technology. Information can be deceived sometimes which would lead to false facts, but it must be from a trusted source. Also, I will add some of my thoughts or ideas that would come up in my mind.
Create Reserves. He stated that by creating a medical reserve corps that knows different medical aspects and expertise. Aside from medical experts, why not create an organization if all agencies of the government cannot contain & control the epidemic, they're more like pandemic specialists and it can be from various backgrounds.
Pair Medical & Military personnel. Combine all available assets of Medical staff, as for the Military will handle logistics for the deployment of Medical teams and secure locations of the outbreak. This is also a good one. Medical teams may only have a few resources, with the fast deployment of the military they can be sent there in no time.
Run Germ Games. It's a simulation similar to war games, but you'll not going to use any weapons, it practices your mind if you're mentally prepared for the outbreak. As Bill mentioned in his presentation there was a germ game conducted by senior officers of the U.S. government in 2001 called Operation Dark Winter.
It was a coincidence while I was researching for sources, this was also linked to Ubisoft's video game, The Division. The simulation is real, and I even discussed this previously on how the game works comparing it to the current situation we face today. You can click/tap here to read more.
Step Up Research & Development. Double the investments in Research & Development, but it would cost tens of billions of dollars a year. Only if the government would invest in scientific tools, hoping they would support our medical researchers and create more vaccines in the upcoming months.
Are we ready for the next epidemic?
I know that time is not our side since it tested our resilience and the need to survive for our daily needs. Now we have learned our lesson of this situation we're facing today. In the future, I'd say we can be ready for the next epidemic.
