McLeod Group blog by Elizabeth McAllister and Brian G. Bedard, October 6, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic was predicted and preventable. The next pandemics are equally predictable and preventable. Around 60% of human infectious diseases and 75% of emerging infectious diseases originate in animals as zoonotic diseases. The novel coronavirus is just one of many, with its spillover from animals to humans, local and regional amplification, and subsequent spread to devastating pandemic levels.
Medical, veterinary and environmental sciences’ dire warnings and lessons learned from SARS, MERS, avian influenza, swine flu, Ebola and other recent emerging diseases were ignored. Global programs and national initiatives for pandemic preparedness were neglected, abandoned or underfunded. Canada’s internationally respected pandemic global alert system, for example, wasn’t Canadian-centred enough to warrant continued funding.
The World Bank estimated eight years ago that an investment of US$3.4 billion in 0ne Health systems worldwide would avert losses in excess of US$30 billion incurred through delayed or inadequate responses to zoonoses. Countries did not respond.
Now the IMF estimates that the cost of this preventable pandemic to governments alone is already over US$9 trillion. Economies have come to a standstill. Developing countries without strong health systems and institutions stand to lose decades of development progress supported by Canada and others. The pandemic’s cascading effects will jeopardize efforts to fight climate change and promote gender equality.
The growing incidence of zoonotic diseases is caused by large increases in population accompanied by human encroachment into the natural environment. This has created the conditions for zoonotic diseases to thrive with opportunities for pathogens (viruses, bacteria and fungi) to cross the species barrier from animals to humans.
The burgeoning population has increased demand for animal-sourced protein, especially for “bush meat” by those too poor to buy domesticated animal-sourced protein. It has led to unsustainable agricultural intensification, increased exploitation of and illegal trade in wildlife, and expansion of infrastructure and extractive industries.
Such ecosystem intrusions result in trans-species zoonotic infections. Globalized systems of travel, a plethora of wet markets, and international trade networks help spread previously localized infections around the world. Mother Nature is fighting back with devastating socio-economic impacts and a terrible loss of life. Who bears the largest burden from the failure to prevent pandemics? Women, youth and the poor – everywhere.
In a recent report from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute, these organizations stepped back from the current medical and public health focus on mitigating this pandemic’s effects to consider the systemic root causes of zoonotic diseases and their future impact. The report calls for a One Health approach, a concept that has been around since the 1960s but has yet to be fully adopted.
One Health institutional arrangements reflect the reality that animal, human and ecosystem health are inseparable, and their interactions are rapidly intensifying. International agencies (World Bank, UNEP, WHO, FAO, OIE, etc.) have called for a One Health approach that operates from the community to global levels. It focuses on prevention, early detection and rapid response. The spread of viruses and other pathogens from animals to humans already has been blocked many times through surveillance and rapid response. It can be done on a global scale.
Canada can be the catalyst for an integrated One Health response to rid the world of pandemics
Canada and other countries have lacked the political will to sustain investments at levels commensurate with the threat of recurring pandemics. We must not fall back into a cycle of crisis, response, recovery and post-recovery neglect until the next crisis hits.
We don’t know how to manage big hairy complex problems that cross human, animal and ecosystem disciplines. It requires sustained partnership with predictable funding from governments, civil society and, especially, the private sector. Our way of governing is built on a simpler world when human well-being and economies could be managed sector by sector by cabinet ministers who, unfortunately, may not see the advantage of funding multi-sectoral programs that they think diminish their own ministry’s contributions.
Similarly, donors are losing their commitment to multilateralism. Thousands of donor-driven, fragmented programs create more competition than the collaboration that pandemic preparedness demands.
Canada has a golden opportunity here. As a country and a culture, we understand the importance of institutions and partnerships. The global community needs to learn how to improve and manage international collective action for One Health.
Let’s explore how to implement recent and proven scientific advances to detect zoonotic diseases and mitigate pandemics at the source. Let’s learn at home and support the international system to build One Health capacity worldwide. Lessons from the experience will inform collective action in the multilateral sphere and leverage Canada’s global impact on climate change and gender equality.
Elizabeth McAllister has served in leadership positions at CIDA and the World Bank and as a senior consultant in the international development community for over 35 years. Brian Bedard is a Canadian veterinary epidemiologist and One Health practitioner with more than 35 years of first-hand international development experience. Image: Shutterstock.