While billionaire Bill Gates is determinedly optimistic about the likes of AI and eradicating deadly diseases like polio, he remains concerned about either a widespread war or another pandemic. He cited “a lot of unrest” in the world at the moment, which could spark “a major war.” But even if that conflict is avoided, “then yes, there will be another pandemic, most likely in the next 25 years,” Gates told CNBC Make It.
Original reporting by Eleanor Pringle
Original reporting by Eleanor Pringle
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00:00There are some questions that keep even billionaire philanthropist and entrepreneur Bill Gates
00:04up at night.
00:05Will there be another pandemic?
00:06Are global tensions going to reach a boiling point, sparking a global war?
00:10What would push us to that precipice?
00:13While Gates, a father of three, is optimistic about things like AI and eradicating deadly
00:17diseases like polio, he remains concerned about either a widespread war or another pandemic.
00:23He cited a lot of unrest in the world at the moment, which could spark a major war.
00:27And when speaking to CNBC, Gates stated that even if that conflict is avoided, there will
00:31be another pandemic, most likely in the next 25 years.
00:35The Microsoft co-founder was unimpressed with the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic
00:40and said crucial lessons have been ignored.
00:42He was critical of America's response to the crisis, saying, quote,
00:46The country that the world expected to lead and be the model fell short of those expectations.
00:50And Gates isn't alone in his disappointment.
00:52Many other global health advocates are also pushing the Western world for better responses
00:56to emerging outbreaks.
00:58One epidemiology professor said,
01:00In the West, we only really get interested in a disease when it starts directly threatening us.
01:04The problem is that so many of these diseases could have been prevented from spreading if
01:07the countries on the ground had had the resources.
01:10And the World Health Organization shared similar concerns.
01:13Earlier this year, the WHO issued a warning about the spread of the influenza virus through
01:18cattle, birds, and humans, and urged nations to work together to be better prepared for a pandemic.
01:23Nicola Lewis, director of the Worldwide Influenza Center, stated,
01:26There is one certainty.
01:28There will be another flu pandemic in the future.
01:31Lewis added,
01:32My message to international communities is that we have to set aside our reticence.
01:35We have to set aside our parochial concerns and remember the impacts and the devastating
01:39consequences of a global pandemic from whatever disease agent it comes from.
01:44Gates, who is worth $157 billion, isn't the only influential name warning about a potential
01:49global conflict.
01:51Last year, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon shared his thoughts about global tensions
01:55with CNBC TV18.
01:57I think the geopolitical situation is the thing that most concerns me.
02:02And we don't know the effect of that on the economy.
02:04We may be at an inflection point for the free democratic world.
02:08That's how serious I take it.
02:09So geopolitics, the number one risk that you believe the world is facing today?
02:13Absolutely.
02:14We've dealt with inflation before.
02:15We've dealt with deficits before.
02:17We've dealt with recessions before.
02:19We haven't really seen something like this pretty much since World War II.