(sirens blaring)
- [Narrator] Millions dead. Hundreds of millions infected.
Hundreds of millions infected.
Countless jobs lost.
Trillions in losses to the global economy.
These are just some of the consequences
of the COVID pandemic.
We still don't know the full impact.
What we do know is that this pandemic happened in part
because of our broken relationship with nature.
New diseases are emerging faster and faster.
Infectious diseases like COVID-19 will appear again,
unless we address the root of the problem
and prevent pandemics at their source,
at the point of spillover.
Zoonotic spillover is the process by which viruses jump
from animals to people.
Just like Ebola, HIV, and now COVID,
most new infectious diseases come from animals,
and the majority come from wildlife.
Once a new virus is in humans,
containing its spread in our interconnected world
can be extraordinarily challenging.
Investment in containment, preparedness, and response
is important and necessary, but it is not enough.
Spillover prevention is essential
if we want to avoid another global pandemic.
The main drivers of spillover
are deforestation and land use change;
wildlife farming, markets, and trade;
and livestock production in close proximity to wildlife.
Every time humans cut down forests,
we increase contact between human and wildlife populations
and increase our chances of a new virus spilling over.
Wildlife trade and markets
are another pathway for spillover,
with stressed and often injured animals mixed together,
creating the perfect conditions
for the emergence and spillover of novel viruses.
Livestock production near the forest edges puts wildlife
in close contact with domestic animals,
increasing the chances of spillover.
And the crowded conditions on industrial farms
are often similar to those of wildlife markets,
with pigs and poultry serving as ideal hosts for viruses.
The good news is that government-supported prevention
can achieve rapid, large-scale results
that reduce pandemic risk.
In Indonesia, there has been significant progress
in slowing deforestation over the last four years
due to a government moratorium on forest clearing
and strengthened law enforcement.
In China, the national government has taken action
to close wildlife markets.
And in northern Thailand,
villagers are able to track instances of unusual disease
in livestock and wildlife through a locally built app.
These solutions have important secondary benefits,
like combating climate change and preserving biodiversity.
But now we know that when we fight
for the forests and their wild animals,
we are also fighting for our own lives.
(birds chirping)
The global cost of a comprehensive plan
to stop future pandemics
is estimated to be as little as $20 billion annually,
with up to 10 billion needed for spillover prevention.
This is a small price to pay
compared to the millions of lives
and trillions of dollars lost to COVID.
The COVID pandemic has taught us
that we need a new, expanded approach to global health.
Now is the time for governments across the globe
to address the root causes of infectious diseases
and invest in preventing pandemics at the source.
By doing this, we can stop the next global pandemic
before it starts.