At a time when the twin shadows of Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war loom large, setting off social and economic challenges worldwide, bridging the divide is a challenge like never before. For Bill Gates, however, that’s a challenge right up his crowded street. “Creating an Equal World: The Power of Innovation,” is the subject Wednesday of the 5th Ramnath Goenka Memorial Lecture that Gates is delivering. Author, philanthropist, investor, technology founder, and co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates is taking the stage weeks after the release of his latest book: How to Prevent the Next Pandemic. The book is a veritable action plan – informed by technology and the latest in vaccine research - to anticipate and address the next health challenge. “Outbreaks are inevitable, but pandemics are optional,” Gates says in a blog on his book. In the post, he envisages a scenario where an outbreak is detected by local public health agencies “which function effectively in even the world’s poorest countries,” and governments sound an alarm, start using “blunt tools” like quarantines and anti-virals that protect against a broad range of pathogens. If insufficient, the world quickly starts work on developing new tests, treatments, and vaccines. No one is left behind, he says, when the systems have already been set up. Covid-19, which has killed at least 6.8 million worldwide, was marked by a lack of early access to vaccines in the poorest countries. Incidentally, one of India’s three health priorities at the G-20 summit it is hosting is to ensure access to such medical countermeasures to all in the event of another pandemic. Gates has spoken on an effective response during the first 100 days to stop a pandemic in its tracks. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says that within 12 days of the first death due to Covid-19 reported from Wuhan, they started work on the pandemic, with a $5-million support to deal with the emerging threat. “That initial $5 million toward addressing COVID-19 became $100 million by February 5, 2020, and $250 million by April 15, 2020. All told, our foundation has committed more than $2 billion to address the pandemic,” the foundation says. Not just the pandemic, the foundation works on a myriad of healthcare issues including HIV, polio, and tuberculosis, maternal new born and child health, family planning, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. This will be the first Ramnath Goenka lecture after the pandemic. The lecture, named after the founder of The Indian Express, has been delivered by then RBI governor Raghuram Rajan; President of India Pranab Mukherjee; former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi; and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. After the lecture, Gates will be in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express.
