The agency said the strategy describes a plan to integrate experts and officials from all sectors into national working groups in order to build stronger monitoring systems that can detect risks more quickly and prioritize investment in research and development.
In a virtual press conference, the PAHO highlighted the need for countries to bring together veterinarians, agricultural and environmental personnel to agree on measures aimed at preventing potential epidemics.
The entity stressed that the cost of avoiding a pandemic is much lower than the cost of responding to one of them, stressing that Covid-19 alone has caused a loss of four trillion dollars in global GDP, and we are not yet out of danger, it warned.
On the One Health basis, he urged member states to review their health budgets, reconsider how they deliver health care and participate in global efforts to prevent the next pandemic.
The PAHO said the economies of many regions in the region are also largely dependent on agricultural production and exports, so the risk of animal disease is significant and can affect entire industries and national development.
This is particularly critical in Latin America and the Caribbean, where there are tropical regions with high potential to host new diseases, such as the Amazon Basin, the Gran Chaco, the Lacandon Forest, the Isthmus of Darien and La Mosquitia, he said.
He stressed that climate change is affecting ecosystems and people are coming into close contact with animals through urbanization and deforestation, thus increasing the likelihood of flooding.
PAHO has always considered One Health’s approach as a priority because for more than 70 years it has organized a program that addresses animal issues in zoonoses and food safety.
M / Zinc
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