The pandemic has exposed the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and the planet. Ph. Shutterstock
The pandemic caused by the coronavirus will not be the last! It is a finding that health experts have made since the appearance of this virus and its spread around the world. A finding reaffirmed by the WHO which warns that “attempts to improve human health are doomed to failure if we do not tackle climate change and animal welfare”.
In a new alert from the World Health Organization (WHO), on the occasion of the first International Epidemic Preparedness Day, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wanted to send a strong signal by condemning the “dangerously myopic” gear that is spending lavish money when an epidemic hits, but doing nothing to prepare for the next. It is time to learn the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic, said the head of the WHO, observing that “for too long the world has operated on a cycle of panic and neglect. We throw money at one epidemic and when it is over we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one ”. “History tells us this will not be the last pandemic and epidemics are a fact of life,” Ghebreyesus said in his post, adding that “the pandemic has highlighted the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and the planet ”. For him, the coronavirus crisis shouldn’t have come as a surprise, given the repeated warnings.
This should serve as a lesson to the world and inspire countries to invest in preparedness capacities to avoid, detect and mitigate emergencies of all kinds. The WHO boss believes that with investments in public health, “we can ensure that our children and their children inherit a safer, more resilient and more sustainable world.”
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