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Chapter 1 Learn from COVID It's easy to say that people never learn from the past. But there are times when we do. Why hasn't there been a World War III? Partly because in 1945, world leaders looked at history and decided there were better ways to settle their differences. That's the spirit in which I look at the lessons from COVID, the worst global calamity since World War II. We can learn from it and decide to do a better job of protecting ourselves from deadly diseases--in fact, it's imperative to put a plan in place and fund it now, before the sense of urgency fades and the world's attention moves on to something else. Many reports have documented the good and the bad of the world's response to COVID, and I've benefited from reading them. I have also puloled together a number of key lessons through my work in global health--including projects such as eradicating polio and following the pandemic day to day working with experts at the foundation and in governments, academia, and the private sector. A key element is to look at the countries that did better than others. 1. Doing the right things early pays huge dividends later.