Month: September 2022

Summary High-Level Event: Presenting the Quadripartite’s One Health Joint Plan of Action

Posted on by Johannes Keil

The Alliance was pleased to co-host the launch of the Quadripartite’s awaited One Health Joint Plan of Action (OH JPA) on Tuesday, 18th October. The event took place in the impressive Dinosaur Hall of the Natural History Museum in Berlin. Our international guests joined the event on-site and online.

The event was co-organized by the four Quadripartite organizations (FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH) with support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Museum für Naturkunde, and the Foundation Healthy Planet – Healthy People.

The One Health Joint Plan of Action (OH JPA) was developed in response to international requests to prevent future pandemics and to promote health sustainably through the One Health approach. It outlines the commitment of the Quadripartite organizations to collectively advocate and support the implementation of One Health. It builds on, complements and adds value to existing global and regional One Health and coordination initiatives aimed at strengthening capacity to address complex multidimensional health risks with more resilient health systems at global, regional and national level.

The plan includes six action tracks: enhancing countries’ capacity to strengthen health systems under a One Health approach; reducing the risks from emerging or re-emerging zoonotic epidemics and pandemics; controlling and eliminating endemic zoonotic, neglected tropical and vector-borne diseases; strengthening the assessment, management and communication of food safety risks; curbing the silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and better integrating the environment into the One Health approach.


You can read and download the OH JPA here:

OH JPA document

You can watch a summary of the launch event here:


The High-Level Advocacy Event served as an occasion for the Quadripartite members and government representatives to present the plan and discuss the opportunities for implementation. Online and on-site guests had the chance to ask questions directly to the four panelists from the Quadripartite, who had come to Berlin for the event. To end the evening, participants continued their informal exchange between and underneath the impressive Dinosaur skeletons with food and drinks.

You can watch the whole launch event online:

Recording on Youtube

The program included:

Moderator:
  • Constanze Riedle, Head of Programme, “International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade”, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Introduction and Welcome
  • Johannes Vogel, Director General at Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
  • Svenja Schulze, Minister, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

Keynote Address
  • Wilhelmina Jallah, Minister of Health, Republic of Liberia (tbc)

Panel Discussion
  • Chadia Wannous, One Health Global Coordinator, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)
  • Francesco Branca, Director, Nutrition and Food Safety, World Health Organization (WHO)
  • Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
  • Wondwosen Asnake KIBRET, Policy and Partnerships Coordinator, Europe Office, UN Environment Program (UNEP)
  • Thomas C. Mettenleiter, President, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health and Co-Chair of the OH High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP)

Closing Remark
  • Cem Özdemir, Minister, German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture

Film Screening of ‘Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet’

Posted on by Hannah Emde

Wednesday, October 12th, 2022, at 17:30 CEST

online and at the GIZ offices, Reichpietschufer 20, 10785 Berlin.

The Alliance Secretariat is organizing a hybrid screening of the acclaimed documentary “Breaking Boundaries” on October 12th: high-level guests and GIZ board member Ms. Tanja Gönner will discuss essential consequences with Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). With this event we take to opportunity to learn about the safe operating space for humanity and discuss the environment-health-nexus at which the work of the International Alliance is embedded, with Johan Rockström.

At 17:45 CEST you may click on the following link to enter the Livestream

Recording on Youtube

About the event

Following the film screening, Prof. Rockström will enter a discussion with you and invited guests. We are looking forward to exploring and debating possible consequences and recommendations to the German politics in general, and German development cooperation in particular. This open and frank discussion should bring to light opportunities but also the real challenges we are now facing considering this evidence. The event will be held in English with:

  • Prof. Johan Rockström, Co-Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), exploring and debating with
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. Sabine Gabrysch, Professor for Climate change and Health, Charité, and
  • Ms. Tanja Gönner, Chair, Management Board of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH,
  • facilitated by Maike Voss, Director, Center for Planetary Health Policy (CPHP), and Managing Director, Allianz Klimawandel und Gesundheit (KLUG).

About the film

Breaking Boundaries featuring Sir David Attenborough and Professor Johan Rockström explores the science behind the impact humanity has had on Earth since the dawn of civilization, revealing an urgent truth about the health of our planet. The film details just how far we’ve pushed Earth beyond the boundaries that have kept our planet stable for millennia, and what steps need to be taken to turn things around. At the core of Breaking Boundaries lies a key message of action: stay innovative, cooperate, and make the next decade one that safeguards the future of our planet. The science is clear on what humanity needs to do. Only when we listen to these facts – and pay attention to the undeniable urgency – can we create a future where nature and people thrive.

World Health Summit 2022

Posted on by Hannah Emde

We are happy to announce that the Alliance secretariat will be organizing Session 06 “The Cost of Inaction – the Importance of Pandemic Prevention at the Source” on October 16th at 14:00 CEST. The World Health Summit (WHS) is the unique international strategic forum for global health. Held annually in Berlin, it brings together stakeholders from politics, science, the private sector, and civil society from around the world to set the agenda for a healthier future. More information and online registration can be found here.

Session 06 – The Cost of Inaction – the Importance of Pandemic Prevention at the Source

The Need to Bolster Pandemic Prevention at the Source to Reduce Costs and Provide Co-Benefits to Climate and Biodiversity

Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, CEST: 02:00 PM – 03:30 PM / UTC: 12:00 PM – 01:30 PM

Scientists calculate the cost of preventing further pandemics – via forest protection and improved wildlife trade regulation – over the next decade would amount to just 2% of the estimated financial damage caused by COVID-19. Such prevention strategies would also come with considerable co-benefits for climate and biodiversity. Research shows the proportion of pathogens crossing from one stage to the next, from pre-emergence to pandemic stage decreases as the costs for stopping those increases. In this inverse correlation: the earlier we prevent, the more cost-efficient it is.

Yet attention is currently focused on later-stage prevention, preparedness and response. According to WHO’s Cristina Romanelli, only 3% of current efforts to stop future pandemics goes to primary prevention (pre-spillover), while the remaining 97% is invested in secondary prevention and preparedness measures.

In the wake of immediate reactions to COVID-19 – most of which were taken under immense pressure to respond to and manage an ongoing crisis – many key actors, are now contemplating how to avoid and handle possible future pandemics more intelligently, efficiently and effectively. Considering this challenge, we ask: How can lessons learned from COVID-19 and primary prevention take a more prominent role in global responses to reduce the risk of future pandemics? What would such a policy path look like? And how might it incorporate regulations in line with WHO’s Manifesto (“Prescriptions for a healthy and green recovery from COVID-19”) that recognize the incredible opportunity for investments contributing to solving the triple, intersecting crises of health, climate and biodiversity?

Chairs:

Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen

Physician, Science Journalist, Founder of Healthy Planet – Healthy People Foundation and World Health Summit Ambassador | Germany

Speakers:

Prof. Dr. Andrew Dobson

Princeton University | Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology | Professor | United States of America

Jochen Flasbarth

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) | State Secretary | Germany

Dr. Catherine Machalaba

EcoHealth Alliance | Senior Policy Advisor and Senior Scientist | United States of America

Dr. María Neira

World Health Organization (WHO) | Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health | Director

More information

The whole session was recorded and can be found here: WS 06 – The Cost of Inaction – The Importance of Pandemic Prevention at the Source – YouTube

This session is organized by the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade.

POSTPONED: Expert Talk on Radical Listening with Kinari Webb – Health In Harmony

Posted on by Hannah Emde

New Date Coming Coon

Indigenous peoples make up just 5% of the world’s population, yet they manage 25% of the earth’s land and support 80% of the earth’s biodiversity. Tropical forest protection is key to lowering the Earth’s temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius and meeting the pledge set forth by the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. Appropriate mechanisms must be identified to create a trustworthy environment to listen, learn and understand the importance of being guided by Indigenous and local communities to be able to develop inclusive and effective lines of action for primary pandemic prevention. Radical Listening is an example of contextualizing the perspectives of rainforest communities as implemented by Health in Harmony.

Internationally coordinated and cooperative approaches to identify and reduce health risks from our distorted relationship with nature and wildlife must be inclusive and respectful of Indigenous knowledge systems and their communities needs and traditions.To create a platform to foster exchange, aiming to reduce the risk of future pandemics, the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade is cordially inviting you to the upcoming

Expert Talk with Kinari Webb

New Date will be announced soon.

By partnering with local organizations and governments, Health In Harmony works alongside 135,000 Indigenous, Traditional, and rainforest peoples, protecting over 8.8 million hectares of high-conservation value rainforest in Indonesia, Madagascar, and Brazil.

Kinari Web will explore how this approach relates to the Alliance’s work, what insights from Health in Harmony’s scientifically confirmed work should be included in regulatory frameworks, and what conclusions might be drawn for members of the Alliance.

About the speaker
Kinari Webb, MD, is the founder of Health In Harmony, an international nonprofit dedicated to reversing global heating, understanding that rainforests are essential for the survival of humanity, and a cofounder of Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI). Dr. Webb graduated from Yale University School of Medicine with honors and currently splits her time between Indonesia, international site assessments, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Her debut novel, Guardians of the Trees, was released in 2021.

About the Alliance
The International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade serves as an inclusive and interdisciplinary platform to discuss challenges and formulate solutions vis-á-vis human-wildlife interfaces and associated health risks and the emergence and spread of zoonotic pathogens from wildlife. The Alliance is aiming to enhance international and national awareness, knowledge, policies and action, not least by narrowing the gap between science and implementation.

We are very much looking forward to jointly learning from Kinari Webbs findings. Please feel free to forward and share this invitation (PDF attached) with interested colleagues.

Click here to join the Meeting.