Beyond health: Pacific islands cast a wider net to strengthen health security

Excerpt from who.int

Given that more than half of the infectious diseases affecting people originate in animals, the next public health emergency may not begin in a hospital or clinic but at a farm or in a flooded community.

Across Pacific island countries and areas, climate-sensitive diseases further intensify these challenges. Leptospirosis, for example, often rises after heavy rainfall and floods, while food and water safety remain a major concern with unsafe food linked to more than 200 diseases worldwide, many of them present in the Pacific.

While these risks are already well known, findings using the tools under the International Health Regulations (IHR) clearly show that preventing and controlling diseases transmitted from animals to humans remains an urgent priority. The IHR – which came into effect in 2005 and were recently amended to strengthen them further – are a legally binding framework adopted by 196 WHO States Parties, including Pacific island countries, to prevent, detect and respond to public health threats with the potential of international spread.

The need for urgent action was discussed at a recent meeting of Pacific islands from 3 to 5 February, where, for the first time, more than 70 participants came together representing not only national IHR focal points but also the animal health and legal sectors.