Vision
The Members of the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade envision a world of healthy and safe coexistence of people, animals, and the ecosystems that they are part of – underpinned by the recognition of their close links and interdependence.
Mission
The International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade is an open, inclusive and collaborative space where stakeholders join forces to better understand and reduce the threat of pathogen spillover from wildlife trade and markets, providing and communicating evidence, supporting interventions, thereby, reducing the risk of future outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, while concurrently improving health, equity, and well-being for all species – through a One Health approach.
Context
Epidemics and pandemics kill, disrupt lives, and can destabilize entire societies. There is not a simple answer on how to prevent them in future and not a single actor, institution or government who could achieve this by themselves. The only chance we have is to work together towards this as a common goal.
Simultaneously, we are faced with further global crises, just as deadly and disruptive as pandemics and, furthermore, intertwined: the climate and ecological crises. Solutions must therefore be holistic, cross-cutting, and synergistic, i.e. multi-solving approaches.
Wildlife is an important and integral part of biodiversity, which is one of the foundations of the health of human civilization. It is also a source of known and currently unknown pathogens, some of which have the potential to become pandemic in humans. However, it is not wildlife itself which poses the risk, but the interface between wildlife and people, and human behavior. Indeed, human behavior offers many critical control points at which we can influence the chances of pathogen spillover from wildlife, while protecting it for future generations.