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In March 2015, Microsoft founder Bill Gates warned of the risks of a pandemic similar to that of the Coronavirus Covid-19 in Africa.
Five years ago, almost to the day, Bill Gates almost prophesied what is happening in the world today. The founder of Microsoft described his fears of a viral pandemic very similar to the one we have been experiencing for several weeks!
That day, Bill Gates, spoke of the onset of a pandemic for which humanity would not be prepared. We are then in March 2015, in the wake of the terrible Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which has remained essentially contained in three countries thanks to the investment of NGOs including MSF.
“When I was little, the disaster we were most afraid of was a nuclear conflict,” said the founder of Microsoft. “But if something kills more than 10 million people in the next few decades, it is more likely to be a highly contagious virus than a war. […] We have invested a lot in nuclear deterrence, and very little in a system to contain epidemics. We are not ready. “
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Regarding Ebola, “the problem was that there was no system,” says Bill Gates, who has just followed the progress, via his influential humanitarian foundation, of this epidemic which left more than 10,000 dead in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. “We did not have a team of epidemiologists ready to go, the reports arrived on paper and were inaccurate. “WHO, whose role it is, is not armed to do so,” he said.
Coronavirus in Africa: “It’s only the wind before a probable storm”. “We may be less fortunate,” Bill Gates feared a more deadly and above all more extensive epidemic than Ebola, which he called a global warning. “There are three reasons why Ebola has not spread further,” says the billionaire: “Heroic work by the health teams, who prevented the spread of infections there. […]
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The nature of the virus, which does not spread through the air: by the time they become contagious, most people are so sick that they stay in bed […] The fact that Ebola has affected very few urban areas is just luck. “
“Next time, we may be less fortunate,” warns Bill Gates. “Imagine another virus, with which infected people would feel fit enough to fly or go to the supermarket. […] Other variables would make things a thousand times worse: for example, a virus capable of spreading through the air like the Spanish flu of 1918. “
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“There is no need to panic … But we have to do it,” concludes the 2015 Bill Gates, who advocates for a “global health system”, with mobile medical units and reservists. “I don’t have a specific budget, but it would be minimal compared to the potential damage. The World Bank estimates that a global flu epidemic would decrease global wealth by $ 3 trillion, in addition to millions of deaths. “
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