The Covid-19 pandemic might be fading into the background for many people in the rich world but Bill Gates, software pioneer and philanthropist, wants those in power to learn some lessons fast. In How to Prevent the Next Pandemic (Allen Lane) he applies his technocratic approach to preparing the world for future public health emergencies. That means building early warning systems that could identify novel illnesses when they first start to circulate in human populations; developing better treatment and vaccine technologies that can quickly tackle brand new pathogens; and optimising processes and building manufacturing facilities that could quickly mass-produce things like medicines and rapid tests in times of emergency. At the heart of Gates’s plan is a new institution he calls Germ (Global Epidemic Response and Mobilisation), composed of a few thousand experts – from epidemiologists to vaccinologists to diplomats – who would be on standby in case of a global threat. In between emergencies, this group would go around the world to strengthen pandemic-prevention infrastructure and encourage governments to keep spending on things like disease-monitoring and scientific research. None of the ideas in the book are radical; indeed, scientists have been arguing for some version of all them for several decades. But, given who is making the recommendations, people with the power to make change might finally listen.
