Pandemics: Scientists warned for years, politicians need to spend money to prepare

The least predictable aspect of the pandemic is exactly how unprepared we are to deal with it, said author David Quammen on CNN’s Global Town Hall Thursday.

“The science was there. The scientists knew about this,” said Quammen, who wrote "Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic."

"For years, infectious disease specialists have been warning countries that they need to prepare, but political leaders don’t want to spend the money to prepare for a pandemic if it is not likely going to happen during their term in office," he said.

“Scientists could provide the warnings, public health officials could echo the warnings to political leaders, but political leaders tend to be risk averse, and as Bill Gates said, it would cost billions and billions of dollars."

But billions of dollars are nothing compared to the toll of the pandemic, he said.

The world also needs to protect the environment much better, he said. The world’s hunger for meat, timber and minerals has disrupted the Earth’s wild ecosystems putting us all in danger. 

“As we do that, we’re coming in contact with all these wild animals that carry all these viruses and as long as we keep doing that, we’re going to be facing these spillovers in these outbreaks in the future,” Quammen said.  

Source: CNN