Source: TH
Context: The Union Government of India has launched a $25 million project to boost animal health security in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
About Pandemic Fund:
- Fund size and origin: A $25 million initiative established under the G20 Pandemic Fund during Indonesia’s G20 presidency in 2022.
- Objective: Enhance pandemic preparedness in low- and middle-income countries by improving response capacity to animal health risks.
- Implementing partners: Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Purpose and rationale:
- Preventing zoonotic outbreaks: Address the animal origin of zoonotic diseases, with 5 of 6 WHO-declared public health emergencies having animal origins.
- Reducing economic impact: Mitigate socio-economic damage caused by zoonotic outbreaks, like SARS and avian flu, which caused global losses of $50 billion and $30 billion, respectively.
Key Interventions:
- Laboratory upgrades: Expand and improve animal health labs and vaccine production facilities.
- Enhanced surveillance: Strengthen early warning systems for better outbreak detection and timely intervention.
- Data system upgrades: Improve data management and analysis for better risk assessment and decision-making.
- Institutional capacity building: Establish a disaster management framework tailored for the livestock sector, addressing capacity needs at national and regional levels.
- Definition: Diseases that can be transmitted from animals (domesticated or wildlife) to humans, often facilitated by close animal-human interactions.
- Risk statistics: Over 60% of pathogens affecting humans originate from animals, with 75% of emerging human diseases linked to animal sources.
- Examples and impact: Mosquito-borne diseases (e.g., dengue from Aedes aegypti), avian influenza, and rabies are zoonotic diseases. Climate change increases the frequency and range of these diseases.
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