Action for Animal Health event highlights importance of animal health in pandemic treaty plans
Pandemic treaty negotiations must include actions to minimise the risk of diseases spilling over from animals to people. This was the prevailing message as an all-women panel came together for Action for Animal Health’s online event on Tuesday 28 June.
The panel featured Dr Klara Saville, Head of Global Animal Health and Welfare, Community Development and Research at Brooke, Chadia Wannous, One Health Global Coordinator for the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), Mariana Vale, Professor of Ecology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr Jeniffer Atim, Veterinary Officer at Conservation Through Public Health, Angelique Angot, laboratory specialist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO), and moderator Patricia Amira.
“Covid-19 has drawn the world’s attention to zoonotic diseases but also One Health and its importance. A new pandemic treaty must include provisions to prevent the spillover of zoonotic diseases from animals to people” said Saville, who opened the discussion. Speakers also talked of the importance of human behaviour change in reducing risks and how exactly a One Health approach could be implemented.
Angot closed the event by presenting a case study on rabies in Bali and how the government there was able to use a One Health approach to eliminate the disease by ensuring the appropriate number of resources available to vaccinate the number of dogs needed to break the cycle.
Action for Animal Health is a coalition of partners – including Brooke, Compassion in World Farming, Send a Cow and the World Veterinary Association – which advocates for more investment in strong and resilient animal health systems that protect people, animals and the planet.