Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Published : July 8, 2020 6:53 PM IST
One way of protecting yourself from COVID-19 and future pandemics is by protecting each other with precautionary measures like frequent hand washing and social distancing.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take lives and disrupt economies across the world, a new UN report warns further outbreaks will emerge unless governments take active measures to prevent other zoonotic diseases from crossing into the human population. The report sets out 10 recommendations to prevent future pandemics. Titled 'Preventing the Next Pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission', this report is a joint effort by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It identifies seven trends driving the increasing emergence of zoonotic diseases, including increased demand for animal protein; a rise in intense and unsustainable farming; the increased use and exploitation of wildlife; and the climate crisis.
According to the report, Africa, which has experienced and responded to a number of zoonotic epidemics, including the most recent Ebola outbreaks, could be a source of important solutions to quell future outbreaks.
According to UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, if we keep exploiting wildlife and destroying our ecosystems, then we can expect to see a steady stream of these diseases jumping from animals to humans in the years ahead. Pandemics are devastating lives and economies. Often, as is evident in the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the poorest and the most vulnerable who suffer the most. To prevent future outbreaks, it is very important to protect the natural environment.
In the last two decades alone, zoonotic diseases have caused economic losses of more than $100 billion, not including the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is expected to reach $9 trillion over the next few years. A "zoonotic disease" or "zoonosis" is a disease that has passed into the human population from an animal source. COVID-19, which has already caused more than half a million deaths around the world, most likely originated in bats. But COVID-19 is only the latest in a growing number of diseases -- including Ebola, MERS, West Nile fever and Rift Valley fever -- whose spread from animal hosts into human populations has been intensified by anthropogenic pressures.
Every year, some two million people, mostly in low and middle-income countries, die from neglected zoonotic diseases. The same outbreaks can cause severe illness, deaths, and productivity losses among livestock populations in the developing world, a major problem that keeps hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers in severe poverty.
The report lists 10 recommendations to guard against future pandemics. They include investing in interdisciplinary approaches, including One Health; expanding scientific enquiry into zoonotic diseases; improving cost-benefit analyses of interventions to include full-cost accounting of societal impacts of disease and raising awareness of zoonotic diseases.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 75 per cent of emerging infectious diseases have their origin in animals. The demand for meat has had some unwanted repercussions. Animals are kept in filthy and crowded farms and markets, which offer a perfect breeding grounds for pathogens. These jump to humans when they consume the meat of these animals. Wet markets are another risk. People in many parts of the word have a taste for wild animals who may pass on viruses to humans for which there is no protection. Deforestation, environmental degradation and trade in animals are other reasons. You can help by raising your voices against these practices.
Other than this, to help ward off zoonotic diseases, you can practice some precautionary measures. One way of protecting yourself from COVID-19 and future pandemics is by protecting each other with precautionary measures like frequent hand washing and social distancing. This does not involve any costs and is easy to do.
(With inputs from IANS)
