Action for Animal Health have made recommendations for the United Nations High Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response.
The coalition urges member states of the UN to include the following:
- Build upon the language already agreed in the Political Declaration of the United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on Pandemic
Prevention, Preparedness and Response 2023 by specifically committing to invest in animal health systems in lower- and middle-income settings to achieve the ‘earliest and most adequate response to any outbreak’ (para 68) - Include commitments to invest in a competent and skilled animal health workforce at all levels (including veterinarians, paraprofessionals, community animal health workers), access to medicines and vaccines, and routine surveillance systems for early detection, containment and response
- Reflect commitments agreed in the Political Declaration of the UN High-Level Meeting on Anti-Microbial Resistance, particularly paragraphs 67, 68, 69 and 73. These commitments will prevent another pandemic, as well as combat AMR
- Establish, embed, support and finance multisectoral One Health platforms at national and subnational levels to operationalise One Health. These are networks or frameworks that allow for the integration of expertise across sectors and collaboration on research, policy development and data sharing.
- Commit to and increase support for the World Bank Pandemic Fund and other financing mechanisms, including the coordinating financial mechanism of the International Health Regulations and Pandemic Agreement, to support animal health systems strengthening and operationalise One Health
- Increase domestic financing for pandemic prevention and One Health
- Ensure a whole-of-society approach to preventing pandemics at the national level, including developing and supporting national and regional pandemic prevention and One Health platforms, action plans and strategies
Find the full set of recommendations here
Recommendations in full here