In 2015, American actor and billionaire billionaire Bill Gates stood on TED - a series of global conferences aimed at defining and disseminating new and distinct ideas - and issued a stern warning to the world, saying: "We are not ready for the next pandemic." "But we can be ready to prepare as if we were going to war, by creating reserves, simulating bacterial outbreaks, and investing heavily in research and development," he added. Gates said: The key element is "a strong public health system."

The American billionaire, the founder of "Microsoft", was thinking about the fragile and under-financed infrastructure in poor countries. Global public health has long been one of the main goals of American billionaire's charity.

In April 2018, Gates met US President Donald Trump to urge him to pursue the policy of former presidents and strengthen the infrastructure to respond to the epidemic in the United States. In response to the Ebola outbreak, in 2014, President Barack Obama launched the global health security agenda and directed more than $ 1 billion in global disease prevention and response. President George W. Bush previously echoed Gates's talking points, including the importance of detecting epidemics, storing vaccines and planning for emergencies, during announcements of $ 7.1 billion in plans for the flu pandemic. This is precisely the threat we face today because of the "Covid-19" virus.

Comprehensive strategy

Instead of promoting or even sustaining these initiatives, Trump has disbanded the Global Health Security and Biological Defense Department of the National Security Council. Even before the meeting with Gates, Trump refused to renew $ 600 million in funding for the CDC to prevent global epidemics, which were approved under Obama. The Trump administration also expelled Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bosert, who was said to have called for a "comprehensive biological defense strategy against epidemics."

On March 18, Trump gave his full score for his administration's response to a new coronavirus outbreak. It should not be surprising that the White House administration failed the American public. And when the government fails, we turn to the wealthy, like Bill Gates. Certainly, private financing for global public health is valuable. But the requirements to fight the epidemic are much greater than the capacity of even the wealthiest benefactors. The Gates Foundation made about five billion dollars last year. Finally, Trump has allocated up to $ 50 billion to tackle the Corona epidemic. (This does not mean anything from two trillion dollars, which the president seeks to provide direct relief to taxpayers).

A source of concern

Despite this, Gates' greatest concern has become a reality, and he now treats the United States as if it were a poor country, in his global public health portfolio. The billionaire pledged about $ 100 million last month to combat the emerging coronavirus. His organization's support came in batches: first to help China respond, then to improve global detection and isolation, then to enhance the city's response to Seattle, and finally to develop treatments.

The epidemic hit Seattle severely, and the city's King County witnessed 693 cases and 60 deaths. Bill Gates and his wife Melinda live in Seattle, and their organization is based. Frustration prevailed over the lack of federally-provided test methods, and a Gates Foundation-funded study has since confirmed that it will invest in home-test methods.

Gates might have wished he didn't have to, as his meetings with Trump indicate. And we will say that the billionaire could not say that the provision of coronavirus testing equipment, in addition to coordinating the epidemic response, is the task of the government.

Gates is not alone. In the Bay region, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (an institution launched by Facebook founder and his wife) announced that it would invest to expand tests in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma donated thousands of face masks and test kits to the United States. The Ford Foundation is leading the effort, in cooperation with large corporations, to provide funds and resources to respond to Covid-19.

According to Candide, an organization that seeks to make philanthropy more transparent, $ 1.9 billion has been spent on corona relief by private entities around the world.

However, major charities have a role to play, and their primary and distinctive function is to serve as risk capital for a democratic society, direct resources to fund experiments and discover solutions to social problems that the market or government cannot do. A typical example is Andrew Carnegie's funding of public libraries, an experiment in developing educated citizenship.

Betrayal of democracy

The unique feature of charity is its role in improving results in the long run, and handing over its successes to the government to expand it to all citizens. Charitable work is not a temporary alternative when failing to provide basic services and public goods.

Public health is a public and exemplary interest, and we should never rely on the whims of wealthy donors, with the wealthy increasingly controlling our collective health and well-being.

This would be a betrayal of democracy. Instead of democratic processes that define our collective needs and how to address them, the rich will decide for us. We may turn to the rule of the rich.

The coronavirus pandemic provides us with the immediate need to respond, and reminds us of the importance of investment, in order to avoid preventable disasters in the future. At the present time, everyone's efforts are required in emergency situations, but this is not the purpose of a major philanthropy work, or what may last. The wealthiest country in the world must step up public health funding, rather than relying on the world's richest people, to do so gradually.

Rob Rich is Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and the author of "Giving: Why Charity Fails in Democracy and How It Could Be Better".

1.9

One billion dollars, a sum that was spent on Corona relief, by private entities.

The unique feature of charity is its role in improving results in the long run, and handing over its successes to the government to expand it to all citizens. Charitable work is not a temporary alternative when failing to provide basic services and public goods.

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