Global Surveillance Systems Needed to Fight Pandemics: NEF WRAP
- Vaccine distribution, development also in spotlight at forum
- Climate change and the need for international cooperation
Virus surveillance systems and the need for fairer distribution of vaccines dominated discussions on day two of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, with Bill Gates and Tony Blair among those weighing in as Covid-19 continues to shape the global agenda.
To better prepare for pandemics, several thousand experts at the World Health Organization level could be deployed to spot and fight infectious diseases, Gates said in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. A lot of the risk of future pandemics comes from Sub-Saharan Africa, Gates said. Any surveillance system should be able to function even when governments are dysfunctional or uninterested in sharing information, he said, adding that the world also needs to build capacity to develop vaccines and antivirals faster.