Description
Main findings:
1. Translating animal welfare science into policy is key to human, animal and environmental wellbeing.
2. One Welfare offers an ethical framework for true interdisciplinary collaboration.
3. Governments need to operationalise One Welfare into policy frameworks to reduce future pandemic risk.
Wild animal welfare needs to be prioritised as a crosscutting theme in policymaking in order to help prevent the emergence and spread of diseases. Crowding, stress and injury among wild animals provide the perfect environment for pathogens to spread and mutate, and their close proximity to people during capture, farming, transportation, butchering and trade creates many opportunities for human transmission.
The 2020 Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity stated that “Curtailing the emergence of zoonotic diseases is complex and requires a holistic approach. Measures to prevent the unsustainable exploitation of wildlife are part of the solution. Improvements in the enforcement and regulation of wildlife conservation, animal welfare and public health regulations are also part of the solution.”
One Health is defined by the One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) as an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems. It defines the profound interconnections that exist across the fields of human, veterinary, and environmental health. Whilst its concepts are now well established and momentum is growing for the One Health approach
worldwide, One Welfare principles offer broader strategic opportunities and cross-disciplinary solutions to address the common drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change, as well as reduce future zoonotic disease risk.
This presentation will outline how the incorporation of One Welfare into international policy frameworks would help secure an equitable, sustainable and humane future. It will pay particular attention to the ongoing development of a new global instrument under the World Health
Organisation, aimed at strengthening collaborative efforts to prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics.
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