How can we prevent another pandemic from killing millions of people and devastating the global economy? Can we even hope to accomplish this? Bill Gates believes the answer is yes, and he has written a book that lays out clearly and convincingly what the world should learn from COVID-19, explains the science of fighting pandemics, and suggests what all of us can do to help prevent another one.
In this concise and lucid book, global health activist Gates reflects on the current COVID-19 pandemic, considers future ones, and renders several sensible recommendations for prevention ... Passionate but never preachy, Gates delivers an expert, well-reasoned, and robust appeal for the world to unite in averting upcoming pandemics.
Every expert’s door opens to Gates and he is a fiendish researcher. Both are formidably informative reads. But Climate was better. How to Prevent a Pandemic runs out of steam towards the end and becomes a general statement of techno-optimism ... The problem, though, is that humanity’s woes are largely of humanity’s making; even the inhuman virus spread because of globalisation, world travel and the perversity of politics. Getting everybody to agree to Gates’s plans would be as improbable as President Macron persuading Putin to leave Ukraine. War is just another thing people do. Gates may be fighting losing battles on climate and pandemics, but those are, under the circumstances, the noblest kind.
... insightful ... Gates’s book is not a narrative of COVID; instead, its aims exclusively to propose global strategies for dealing with future pandemics. Utilizing his prodigious ability to analyze and synthesize data, Gates lays out a comprehensive, idealized plan to try and prepare every level of society to deal with widespread illness ... This book is a possible future blueprint for pandemic preparedness, which means that it’s best audiences might be governments and NGOs, rather than individuals.
