For Bill Gates, the next pandemic “will be ten times …

The founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, -who has become one of the most resonant figures since the start of the coronavirus pandemic thanks to his predictions and thoughts- He warned that we must be prepared because the next pandemic could be ten times worse. As he did a few years ago, when he warned of a health emergency similar to that of covid-19, the businessman has now listed the big challenges the world will face. the future.

“This pandemic is bad, but a future pandemic could be ten times worse,” the mogul said in an interview with popular science scientist Derek Muller. Although he expressed hope that the situation will change in a few years, urged governments to organize to fight new diseases and protect their citizens. In this sense, he indicated that the axes of opportunity to achieve this are the drugs, tests, vaccines, epidemiology and surveillance.

In addition, Gates explained that for a new pandemic to be stopped it will be necessary to invest tens of billions of dollars a year.“What the world needs, and what our security and survival demand, is a coordinated global approach. More specifically, we need better tools, an early detection system and a global response system based on scientific advances in new vaccines and treatments, ”he said.

Other threats

The Microsoft founder went for more: During the interview, Gates not only raised the possibility of a new pandemic that would affect humanity in the decades to come, but also He also warned of two serious threats that coexist with the coronavirus and, sadly, will survive: climate change and bioterrorism.

In this regard, he assured that the number of annual deaths due to the environmental disaster “will be even higher” than that caused by the current pandemic. And he clarified: “To understand the kind of damage that climate change will inflict, just think of the devastation caused by the coronavirus and anticipate similar damage over a much longer period. In other words, by 2060, climate change could be as deadly as Covid-19 and by 2100 it could be five times as deadly ”.

Regarding bioterrorism, Gates said it was an uncomfortable topic that many people “don’t want to talk about”, but warned that “it is possible that someone who wants to do a lot of damage and pain is able to create a virus whose implications, unlike those that occur with SARS-CoV-2, go much deeper“.