![]() How did the 2019-nCoV arrive in Wuhan, China is still undetermined, but evidence shows 66% of the 41 initially infected patients had direct exposure to Huanan live animal market ( Huang et al., 2020). COVID-19 is the latest infectious disease of likely zoonotic origin or more simply put to have been caused due to increased interaction between humans and wildlife as a result of anthropogenic activities in terms of environmental degradation and poor planetary health ( Murdoch and French, 2020). In addition, illegal wildlife trade and illegal live animal markets are frequent causes of such diseases. As humans continue to encroach on animal habitat and destroy fragile ecosystems, they come into ever greater contact with animals. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that three-quarters of new or emerging diseases that infect humans originate in animals, with research suggesting that outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola, SARS, MERS, bird flu, and now Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are on the rise ( Vidal, 2020b Smith et al., 2014). Infectious outbreaks, like the novel coronavirus, threaten to become more common as human populations destroy habitats, forcing wildlife into closer proximity to humans ( Johnson, 2020). The field of planetary health is gaining attention, as the connections between human well-being and ecosystem health become increasingly evident. While human health research scarcely considers the surrounding natural ecosystems, a relatively new discipline, planetary health, examines the health of human civilization along with the state of the natural systems on which it depends ( Vidal, 2020a Horton et al., 2014). This chapter argues that planetary health approaches that are needed to address the multiscale issues related to environmental quality and human well-being by protecting our planet.ġ.1. Emerging infectious disease, COVID-19, and planetary health The need for a long-term vision and recommendations that could potentially address the key concerns flagged in the chapter are then discussed. Inequalities and vulnerabilities, in light of emerging humanitarian concerns, on account of the COVID-19 pandemic are examined. The inevitable global waste crisis arising from increasing use of plastic and other nonbiodegradable materials in the context of COVID-19 is discussed. The chapter underscores the inadequacy of the transient improvement in some environmental quality parameters and short-term decrease in global greenhouse gas emissions. To address this subject, the chapter discusses emerging infectious diseases in the context of declining planetary health and the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic response must account for its implications on humans and the planet. The emergence of zoonotic diseases has underscored that risk-based interventions need to be designed from the perspective of planetary health. Set from the perspective of planetary health, the objective of this chapter is to examine the trends set in motion by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), attempting to discuss the long-term environmental and humanitarian implications.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |