PREVENTING THE NEXT PANDEMIC IS VASTLY CHEAPER THAN REACTING TO IT: STUDY

Tóm tắt

A new study emphasizes the need to stop pandemics before they start, stepping beyond the quest for new vaccines and treatments for zoonotic diseases to also aggressively fund interventions that prevent them from happening in the first place.

• Researchers estimated that based on Earth’s current population and on past pandemics, we can expect 3.3 million deaths from zoonotic diseases each year in future. COVID-19 pushed numbers in 2020-21 even higher. These outbreaks are now happening more frequently, and their cost is calculated in trillions of dollars.


• Addressing the main drivers - deforestation, the wildlife trade and burgeoning agriculture, especially in the tropics - could prevent future pandemics, save lives and catastrophic societal disruptions.