During the period of pandemic, the world is treating the health symptoms and economic consequences of coronavirus, but no one is talking about environmental causes. As a result, a significant number of diseases are expected to be transmitted from animals to humans in the coming years.
Even before Covid-19, 2 million people lost their lives to zoonotic diseases each year, especially in the poorest countries. Zoonotic diseases include any disease or infection that is transmitted from animals to humans. Currently, there are many zoonotic diseases with potential for pandemics.
The need for a "1 Health" approach that unites the health of people, animals and the environment is essential, including much more supervision, study and research on disease threats.
Professor Delia Grace, lead author of reports on the United Nations Environment Program, says there have been many reactions to Covid-19, but most of these reactions have been treated medically and economically, when in fact the origin of this disease is in the environment, in food systems and animal health. It's like having a sick patient and treating only a few symptoms without asking about their cause.
Science is clear when it says that if we continue to exploit wildlife and destroy our ecosystems, then we can expect to see a steady stream of these animal-borne diseases in humans in the coming years, says Andersen, director of Environment in the United Nations.
Source: The Guardian
