Name: My wish: Help me stop pandemics
Uploaded: 2006-07-25T00:11:00Z
Duration: 25 min 36 s
Description: Accepting the 2006 TED Prize, Dr. Larry Brilliant talks about how smallpox was eradicated from the planet, and calls for a new global system that can identify and contain pandemics before they spread.

Larry Brilliant: My wish: Help me stop pandemics

My wish: Help me stop pandemics

Accepting the 2006 TED Prize, Dr. Larry Brilliant talks about how smallpox was eradicated from the planet, and calls for a new global system that can identify and contain pandemics before they spread.

Eradicating smallpox required finding every case quickly and containing it before it could spread. In India, health workers made over one billion house calls, proving that human effort and surveillance can outsmart even the most devastating diseases. The same approach—early detection and rapid response—can stop new epidemics and save millions of lives. Building a global, accessible early-warning system is essential to catch threats before they spiral out of control.

Stopping Pandemics Starts With Early Detection, Not Luck

Sometimes Brilliant

Larry Brilliant's TED Prize wish

Since the Talk: New progress on the fight against pandemics

The eradication of smallpox

global issues

science

technology

collaboration

disease

health

TED Prize

ebola

TED Stage Talk