Bill Gates: The next outbreak? We’re not ready | TED
17 Nov 2023 (10 months ago)
SURVEILLANCE & DATA
- Lack of ready epidemiologists to analyze diseases and their spread
- Case reporting was delayed and inaccurate due to reliance on paper
- Absence of a medical response team
PERSONNEL & TREATMENT
- Insufficient preparation for personnel deployment
- Médecins Sans Frontières effectively managed volunteers, but response was slow
- No one evaluated treatment methods or diagnostics
- Potential treatments, like using survivors' blood for plasma transfusion, weren't explored
- Failures are due to a lack of global preparedness and WHO's limited mandate
LAURENCE FISHBURNE CONTAGION & MODEL EBOLA
- Hollywood depictions of epidemic responses are misleading
- Ebola outbreak's containment was due to health workers' efforts, the virus's non-airborne transmission, and luck with urban avoidance
- Future viruses could spread more easily and be more devastating
- Airborne viruses, bioterrorism could pose greater risks
MODEL 1918 FLU
- A virus like the 1918 Spanish Flu would spread rapidly and could kill over 30 million
- We have the technological capability to build an efficient response system
- Tools for rapid pathogen analysis and vaccine development exist, but require a global health system and preparedness
STRENGTHEN HEALTH SYSTEMS & CREATE A MEDICAL CORPS
- Building robust health systems in poor countries is crucial for early outbreak detection
- Establishment of a medical reserve corps is necessary for readiness
PAIR MEDICAL & MILITARY & RUN GERM GAMES
- Medical resources should be coordinated with military capabilities for rapid response
- Conducting germ games will identify systemic weaknesses
- The last U.S. germ game in 2001 showed significant shortcomings in preparedness
R&D [End]
- Advancement in vaccine and diagnostic research and development is essential for epidemic preparedness