By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Rabies kills tens of thousands every year, mainly in Asia and Africa. Around 40% of people bitten by potentially rabid animals are children under 15, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In up to 99% of cases, domestic dogs are responsible for rabies virus transmission to people. Rabies affects both domestic and wild animals. It not only kills. It is costly too.
In an opinion by the World wildlife fund, it looked at the understanding complex connections between the environment, human and animal health is critical for safeguarding nature and protecting human and animal health in Africa in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic as attention to the threat posed by zoonotic diseases grows.
Understanding more about nature’s role in supporting human health in Africa is at the heart of a new report, “Nature, the Environment & Health in Africa,” by WWF and the Smithsonian’s Global Health Program.
Boosting our understanding of the links between nature and human health is especially important in Africa, where nature brings economic prosperity and wellbeing to more than a billion people.
Secondly, nature’s broader role in supporting health remains undervalued. We are paying a high price for the degradation of Africa’s natural capital.
Thirdly, the health risks posed by environmental degradation cause disproportionate harm to Africa’s poorest and most rural populations, who live in closest association with biodiversity and natural ecosystems.
Fourthly, we need to educate everyone better about the bond between human, animal, and environmental health.
Fifthly, the connections between nature and health are rarely factored into sustainable development policy or public health policy in Africa. Again, that comes at a high price.
The analysis shows that the collapse of ecosystems and the services they provide that support health represent a much more pervasive threat to our well-being than just emerging diseases such as COVID-19.
This is because once degraded; ecosystems lose their ability to regulate burdens of infectious and non-infectious disease and their ability to remove pollutants, provide food and water security and the ingredients for pharmaceutical products, and support spiritual and mental health.
