Bill Gates calls for billions in annual spending to stop the next pandemic

The Gates Foundation has invested $1.75 billion in the fight against Covid-19

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates outlined an ambitious plan to stop the next pandemic, calling for a global alert system, massive testing, a cadre of 3,000 “first responders” ready to spring into action and tens of billions of dollars of annual spending.
 

“To prevent the hardship of this last year from happening again, pandemic preparedness must be taken as seriously as we take the threat of war,” Gates wrote in an annual letter Wednesday. “The world wasn’t ready for the Covid-19 pandemic. I think next time will be different.”

Bill and Melinda Gates, who oversee the Seattle-based Gates Foundation, set their