Interview
Michael Milken on what Americans can do in fight against coronavirus
- Michael Milken frames the current pandemic as a mobilization moment comparable to the post-Pearl Harbor era, characterized by a unified national priority shift where private industry and public entities are collaborating.
- The Milken Institute and Foundation have redirected resources toward six specific strategic areas: education, prevention, treatment, cure, financial stability, and care.
- Education and Data:
- Milken notes that modern computer technology processes data a million times faster than in previous decades, enabling rapid analysis of health crises.
- Lessons from cancer research are being applied; over 15 million Americans live with cancer today, and 73 different cancer types share similar mutations, suggesting a data-driven roadmap for pandemic response.
- Global case studies from Taiwan and Singapore are cited as operational models for citizen behavior to mitigate case spikes.
- Prevention:
- Beyond standard hygiene and social distancing, Milken emphasizes the role of the human microbiome (beneficial bacteria) in disease prevention.
- Milken cites his personal experience surviving prostate cancer through dietary changes, noting that diet can alter gene expression to reduce disease growth.
- He references the 2018 Nobel Prize work of Jim Allison, which demonstrated that energizing the immune system can induce remission in melanoma and other diseases.
- Treatment and Testing:
- Testing protocols are accelerating rapidly; Nebraska has reportedly reduced test turnaround times to two hours.
- Milken highlights a public-private partnership model to scale testing infrastructure, similar to post-WWII mobilization efforts.
- Over 30 antiviral treatments are currently in testing, including Gilead's antivirals, which are already being administered to patients.
- Milken predicts a high probability that antivirals, antibodies, and immune-energizing therapies will control the disease significantly before a vaccine is available, challenging the one-year timeline often cited for cures.
- He draws parallels to HIV/AIDS, where the lack of a vaccine has not prevented control of the disease through antiviral therapies.
- Financial and Economic Stability:
- Economic focus is directed toward the 50% of U.S. employees working in small and medium-sized businesses and the majority of Americans living paycheck to paycheck.
- The goal is to preserve economic freedom for families through targeted fiscal stimulus and the deployment of interest-free digital lending platforms that have reached tens of millions of Americans.
- Systemic Recommendations:
- Milken advocates for ending the cycle of building and dismantling the healthcare system during emergencies, urging for a permanent, stable infrastructure.
- He asserts that the solutions successfully deployed for polio and HIV/AIDS provide a precedent for overcoming the current crisis.