Bill Gates reflects on measures to prevent the next pandemic in latest book

It’s been over two years since the pandemic hit the entire world. More than 6 million people lost to the disease. By now, most people are well-aware about the terms such as lockdowns, social distancing, masking, PCR tests and contact tracing. In 2020, the sudden spread of Covid-19 had disrupted the entire health system across the globe. India was also hit hard by the impact of the virus. However, after the roll out of the vaccine in India, the country started healing. Several initiatives are being taken in our country to revive the health system. Steps were taken to cope up with the economic and social crisis.

Through his book he communicated that people need to learn lessons on success and on failure from our response to Covid-19

After the successful vaccination drive in several states of India, the positivity rate declined sharply. Among the other states, Bihar’s massive vaccination drive that has been carried out in each and every corner of the state was a matter of appreciation. Several other states also followed the Bihar’s model of vaccination drive to inoculate maximum people in minimum time. The health workers also contributed significantly to save people and fight against the pandemic through various ways.

Even though we have been fighting successfully against the pandemic yet much more needs to be done so that we may not fail to deal with such situations if it happens in the future. Global health activist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates reflects on the current Covid-19 pandemic, considers future ones, and renders several sensible recommendations for prevention in his book, ‘How to Prevent the Next Pandemic.’ He has turned everyone’s attention to another of the world’s biggest problems that is stopping the next pandemic. Through his book he communicated that people need to learn lessons on success and on failure from our response to Covid-19. Every country must prioritize establishing a pandemic prevention team and enhance disease surveillance to identify outbreaks early.

He writes in his book, “once covid is no longer an acute threat, don’t forget about what it has done”. The health experts need to ramp up efforts at creating universal vaccines for coronaviruses and influenza viruses. According to the book, preparing for the next pandemic will save lives. Two ways to do so are to continue developing vaccines and supporting the infrastructure needed for clinical trials. The goal is to contain outbreaks within the first 100 days before they ever have the chance to spread around the world. According to Gates, if we had stopped the Covid-19 pandemic before 100 days, we could’ve saved over 98 percent of the lives lost.