Source: TH
Context: China is not participating in a United Nations project called Safety Across Asia for the Global Environment (SAFE) to survey high-risk facilities, including Asian wet markets, that may cause the spread of infectious diseases from animals to humans.
- Also, Vietnam and Laos have yet to approve the surveys.
About SAFE:
The project aims to prevent future pandemics due to zoonotic, or animal-to-human, disease transmission.
- Launched in 2021 (will run until 2024)
- Coordinated by: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (monitors illegal wildlife trafficking)
- Funded by the European Union
- Four Asian countries – China, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos – were initially selected for the survey under the project
It is believed that the strain of coronavirus that caused the COVID-19 disease was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan’s wet market in December 2019. China has since banned the sale and consumption of food from wildlife animals.
