Bill Gates Says The U.S. Is Not Prepared For A Pandemic

In the last century the world has seen a boom in just about every facet of our daily lives. From technology to medicine, our world is bigger yet smaller. One hundred years ago, we did not have the freedom to travel from one country to another in a matter of a half-day. One hundred years ago, the influenza pandemic of 1918 took the lives of nearly 5% of the world’s population (or 50 – 100 million lives).

We can speculate what this means in today’s modern world. That is until, the Gates Foundation released a simulation showing us what it looks like if a highly contagious airborne pathogen, such as the flu, reaches pandemic levels. In an article written in the Washington Post, “Bill Gates says the U.S. government is falling short in preparing the nation and the world for the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.”

It is critical we invest today in our medical teams across the globe who focus on combatting or preventing the spread of even a common infectious disease. ID doctors and medical specialists are the catalyst with the expertise to protect our families. “In those remarks, Gates highlighted scientific and technical advances in the development of better vaccines, drugs and diagnostics that he said could revolutionize preparation for and treatment of infectious diseases. He praised last year’s formation of a new global coalition, known as CEPI, to create new vaccines for emerging infectious diseases.”

Read the full Washington Post article.