DESTRUCTIVE WILDLIFE TRADE MUST BE TOP PRIORITY FOR G20 THIS WEEKEND

 By - Ben Pearson, Head of Wildlife Campaigns, World Animal Protection

 When G20 health ministers meet via video conference to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on 19th April 2020, agreeing on measures to prevent another coronavirus pandemic must be their top priority. An essential step will be a global ban on the exploitation and trade of wild animals - the likely source of the COVID-19 virus. 

 So far, India’s death toll from COVID-19 has been relatively low, and the government deserves credit for the measures they have taken to achieve this. But the impact on the world’s economy and population has been severe, and it will take years for us to recover. We must do all we can to stop another pandemic occurring. 

Understanding the source of this pandemic is essential to avoid a repeat in the future. All pointers at present suggest that the COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease, meaning the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, originated in animals and was passed to humans, where it caused the disease. Overall, 60 per cent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, with 70 per cent of these thought to originate from wild animals. In the case of COVID-19 and previous virus-related pandemics, the outbreak started at a live animal market, in Wuhan, called Wet Markets.

But, a singular focus on live animal markets obscures the bigger picture. Live animal markets are possibly the most shocking and visible part of the global trade in wild animals, that is not only immensely cruel, but immensely dangerous. Globally, millions of wild animals are captured, bred and traded every year for medicine, clothing, pets and entertainment. For those not slaughtered upon capture, their lives are often one of boredom, abuse and suffering. 

The horrors of the wildlife trade should be reason enough to ban it. Yet the COVID-19 disaster demonstrates that the trade is not only an animal welfare catastrophe, it is a global health risk. 

Wild animal diseases are usually of no significant risk to people, because of the limited opportunities for the pathogens to infect people if the animals remain in the wild. Pathogens jumping between different wild species is also less common in the wild, reducing the risk of reducing the risk of becoming infectious to people. This changes however, when wildlife trade comes into play. Often, the wildlife trade brings together a wide variety of animals that would typically have no contact in the wild, creating a hotbed of lethal diseases. 

Add to that, the appalling and stressful conditions that the animals endure, leave them immuno-suppressed, making it even more likely they will succumb to infection or harbor pathogens. And, by bringing those animals into contact with humans in a variety of ways, the trade makes it possible for new diseases to arise and jump the species barrier. 

Stopping future disease outbreaks means rethinking our relationship with wild animals. Exploiting and commodifying them as we do for a variety of purposes is not just unethical, it is unsafe. We need to start practising social distancing between humans and wild animals, leaving wild animals in the wild where they belong. 

 There are already positive signs that change is happening. The Chinese government has put in place a ban on the trade of wild animals for consumption, and the Vietnamese government is in the process of introducing a similar directive. But, with fears live animal markets may reopen after lockdowns are lifted, as they did after the SARS coronavirus outbreak of 2003, more needs to be done.

 As with previous international crises, the G20 needs to show leadership and India must ensure they do. Bans must be applied across all wildlife trade and made permanent, comprehensive and properly enforced. The alternative is waiting for the next coronavirus to jump the species barrier and inflict further death and devastation. There can be no greater priority for G20 Health Ministers than avoiding this outcome. 

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WHO commends South African parliament decision to pass tax bill on sugary drinks

6 December, 2017 -The South African Parliament has taken a brave and powerful step towards promoting the health of the country’s citizens and reducing diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes, by passing a bill yesterday to implement a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, according to Dr Rufaro Chatora, WHO’s Representative to South Africa.

“I congratulate the Republic of South Africa’s parliament for passing the law to introduce a health promotion levy on sugary drinks in 2018,” says Dr Chatora. “South Africa’s lawmakers must be commended for their steadfastness in the face of immense industry pressure, as well as their foresight and determination to put the health of their citizens before the profits of corporate entities.”

Dr Chatora adds: “By passing this bill, South Africa’s parliament have shown that feasible measures exist to beat NCDs, and is leading the way for other countries in Africa, and around the world, to follow. The sugary drinks tax bill paves the way for South Africa to join the growing global movement of nations using fiscal policies to reduce consumption of unhealthy products while raising sorely needed revenues for social services like universal health coverage.”

South Africa’s sugary drinks tax is scheduled to be implemented on 1 April 2018 and will lead to an estimated 11% increase in the price of a regular can of soft drink.

More than 30 countries have either introduced a tax on sugary drinks or, like South Africa, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates, passed legislation to implement such a fiscal policy. A larger group of countries, including the Philippines, Antigua, Nepal and Seychelles, are considering introducing a tax on sugary drinks.

WHO recommends governments to introduce effective taxation on sugar-sweetened beverages to help reduce excessive sugar intake. In South Africa, WHO has been supporting the introduction of such taxes since it was proposed by the National Treasury in August 2016 together with many local and international academics and NGOs.  To develop and raise awareness about the bill, a detailed consultation process was conducted with all stakeholders, taking into account the concerns of labour unions, employers and all South Africans, whose health will benefit from the intervention.

Experience from other countries that have implemented the tax demonstrates its potential to reduce consumption of sugar and raise revenues that can be used to prevent and control diabetes, obesity and other NCDs.

“WHO will continue working with South Africa to implement measures that protect children and adults alike from avoidable health risks, like sugary drinks, unhealthy diets, tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol and physical inactivity,” adds Dr Chatora.

Taxation on SSB is just one of a range of cost-effective measures proposed by WHO to curb the threat of NCDs, responsible for the deaths of 16 million people every year before the age of 70.

Other interventions targeting obesity include nutrition labelling; marketing restrictions of unhealthy foods and beverages to kids; fruit and vegetable subsidies; physical activity policies and social marketing campaigns. At the World Health Assembly in 2017, such measures were endorsed as part of the "Best buys" and other recommended interventions for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases

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