- The Microsoft founder made the plea at a Policy Exchange talk yesterday
- He called for the formation of a ‘Pandemic Task Force’ with billions in funding
- Gates suggested developing ‘germ-games’ to prepare for future pandemics
- It came days after he attended the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow
Bill Gates has called on governments to give billions in research and development funding to prevent future pandemics and ‘bio-terrorism’.
The billionaire founder of Microsoft warned that world leaders must prepare for disasters like ‘smallpox terror attacks’ whatever the cost, and called for the formation of a new billion-dollar World Health Organisation Pandemic Task Force.
He gave the warning and bid for funds during a Policy Exchange thinktank interview with chair of the Health Select Committee and former UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday.
While the research may be expensive, he said that it could also lead to other innovations, such as eradicating flu and the common cold.
He said that countries like the US and the UK must spend ‘tens of billions’ to fund the research.
‘I’m hoping in five years, I can write a book called, ‘We ARE ready for the next pandemic’, but it’ll take tens of billions in R&D – the US and the UK will be part of that’, he said.
JUST IN 🚨 FBI and CDC are investigating “questionable vials” labeled smallpox found at Merck facility (Lab) near Philadelphia – Yahoo News
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 17, 2021
6/4/21
FDA approves drug to treat smallpox
Disease considered eradicated in 1980 but drug development for smallpox is an important component for medical countermeasure response
www.fda.gov/drugs/news-events-human-drugs/fda-approves-drug-treat-smallpox
h/t Pure l3Iood Unscannable