The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Secretariat recently attended a conference entitled "A World United Against Infectious Diseases: Cross Sectoral Solutions” on the linkages between human and wildlife health.
12 February 2013: The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Secretariat recently attended a conference titled “A World United Against Infectious Diseases: Cross Sectoral Solutions” on the linkages between human and wildlife health. The conference took place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 28 January-2 February 2013.
The meeting was co-organized, among others, by the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Rockefeller Foundation and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Its goal was to highlight how infectious diseases continue to threaten human health and the need for a more strategic approach to global health preparedness. Participants discussed the need for more systematic and cross-sectoral approaches to identifying and responding to global public health emergencies and other health threats stemming from the human-animal-ecosystems interface.
During the Conference, the CMS/FAO Task Force on Wildlife and Ecosystem Health met. A multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) coordination meeting, attended by representatives of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), CMS and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, was also held.
A panel session on Ecosystems and Wildlife addressed the close relationship between biodiversity conservation and the spread of new diseases in the context of land-use change, habitat fragmentation and climate change. [CMS News]