Session Description: Why Animal Health and Welfare Matters To Human Health
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GRF 2nd One Health Summit 2013: Presentation by Mike Baker, World Society for the Protection of Animals
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Session Description: Why Animal Health and Welfare Matters To Human Health
- 1. Why Animal Health And Welfare Matter to Human Health A joint presentation by the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Government of Kenya
- 2. WSPA in Action The One Health Approach • • • • Our approach to rabies control Animals in effective disaster risk reduction Humane and sustainable agriculture Wildlife in One Health
- 3. A ‘One Health’ approach to rabies control WSPA’s Ending Inhumane Culling campaign
- 4. Canine rabies control Why is WSPA involved? • • • • Every day 150 people die of rabies In more than 99% of all cases of human rabies, the virus is transmitted via dogs (WHO 2013) Each year millions of dogs are inhumanely culled in an attempt to stop the spread of rabies Scientific evidence suggests that culling dogs does not stop the spread of rabies. Mass dog vaccination is proven to be the only effective and sustainable approach to canine rabies
- 5. Rabies Control Applying the One Health concept… • • • Addressing animal health, through humane dog vaccinations is key to an effective rabies response. By removing the main source of infection, rabies cases in dogs and other animal populations can be eliminated and human rabies deaths vastly reduced All relevant sectors (so livestock, veterinary, public health etc.) need to pool efforts under a coordinated framework It requires a strong political will and other key elements such as effective treatment, education, diagnostics and surveillance facilities to make it work
- 6. Mass dog vaccination How does it work?
- 7. A One Health approach The benefits… • It stops cruelty • It protects the community • Economic: It saves money
- 8. A ‘One Health’ approach to disaster management
- 9. Animals in effective disaster management • Livestock, working and companion animals (pets) play a critical part of people’s lives • Essential in health: livelihoods, food security, nutrition, poverty reduction and overall resilience
- 10. How has this been done? • Building community resilience to health and wider impacts of disasters through animal solutions is already being rolled out globally • WSPA has built numerous global relationships as examples of these solutions • Our work with the Mexican government was highlighted at the UNISDR Global Platform in May 2013
- 14. Horn of Africa Drought 2011
- 15. Cost-benefit analysis • Based on economic analysis conducted by WSPA in Kenya, over a one year time period, the intervention focused on livestock protection generated $2.74 of benefits in the form of avoided losses for every $1 spent • If the time period is extended to 3 years, the benefit-cost ratio increases to $6.69 in benefits for every $1 spent (Economists at Large, 2013)
- 16. Powerful ‘One Health’ partnerships • • • • Government participation with Civil Defence Departments and Ministries of Agriculture Communities National and International NGOs and IGOs Academia
- 17. A ‘One Health’ approach to humane and sustainable agriculture
- 18. Farm animal welfare: good for people, business and greater sustainability Economics, business, livelihoods Environment and climate change Public health FARM ANIMAL WELFARE Water, land and natural resources Sufficient and safe food production 18
- 19. The Value Of Partnership Challenges 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Developing robust evidence of winwin scenarios Need to work with variety of stakeholders to achieve change Practical solutions and case studies Shaping the environment in which we work – pragmatic integration Communicating the point of difference What WSPA can offer 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Technical knowledge and expertise and links to research Constructive corporate collaboration WSPA’s track record in designing and delivering innovations with farming and food industry Engagement with international mechanisms Strong positive communications focus
- 20. Food security: can good welfare systems deliver? • Animal welfare and productivity can go hand in hand • It is possible to increase consumption where needed to ensure nutrition, especially if sustainable diets increase the operating space elsewhere Erb et al 2009, 2011
- 21. What are the consequences of dairy intensification and zero grazing for the whole picture of dairy? Including dairy beef in the model
- 23. Poor handling damages almost half of Uruguay’s beef carcasses, costing $100 million or 3,000 tonnes of meat every year
- 25. Wildlife in One Health
- 26. Wildlife trade and human health • Interfaces between humans and wildlife represent critical junctures for zoonotic disease emergence and transmission • The amount of risk to human health is influenced by many socio-economic factors including globalization, urbanization and consumer demand for live wild animals • Disease outbreaks of zoonotic origin effect humans, threaten livestock, livelihoods and entire ecosystems • The financial impacts can be catastrophic; outbreaks resulting from wildlife trade have caused hundreds of billions of dollars of economic damage globally • Around 75% of global emerging human diseases are zoonotic and have a wild animal link
- 27. Human health and wild animal welfare • In some situations an inverse correlation exists between animal welfare and risk to human health - the risk to human health being greater when animal welfare is poor • Wildlife markets are considered especially high-risk infection hubs and reflect the inverse correlation • Employing viable solutions rather than attempting to eradicate all wild species that may harbour zoonoses
- 28. Potential solutions • A practical approach to reduce exposure would include humane efforts to decrease the contact rate among wild animals and individuals, including humans • No wildlife trade is the optimum - the only way to completely erase risk • Where this is not an option ensuring improved/high animal welfare is critical
- 29. The Post-2015/SDG process • • • • WSPA seeks acknowledgement of the important role of animals in the new goals The threat of new and emerging infectious diseases, including zoonotic diseases, must be included The non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock production must be phased out Enhancing animal welfare will reduce the emergence of new zoonotic diseases and reduces the need for growth promotion through antibiotics
- 30. The way ahead
Editor's Notes
- We will cover in this session, the role of animals and animal welfare in a One Health global approach, showcasing how we have been able to implement solutions effectively and successfully in practice. We will also be able to show you two short video case studies of how this was achieved. We will of course have time at the end for you to ask questions. By way of introduction the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has nearly 50 years experience in working with animals and their communities in disasters, supporting both their immediate needs and recovery across the world. WSPA focuses on collective action. We work with governments at all levels, Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental Organisations and communities to ensure positive solutions are being put in place for animals and people alike. We hope that you will find this session informative and interesting while allowing you to explore new solutions for your own work.I will now hand over to Tennyson to discuss our international rabies control work.
- We will cover in this session, the role of animals and animal welfare in a global One Health approach, showcasing how we have been able to implement solutions effectively and successfully in practice. We will also be able to show you two short video case studies of how this was achieved. We will of course have time at the end for you to ask questions. By way of introduction the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has nearly 50 years experience in working with animals and their communities in disasters, supporting both their immediate needs and recovery across the world. WSPA focuses on collective action. We work with governments at all levels, Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental Organisations and communities to ensure positive solutions are being put in place for animals and people alike. We hope that you will find this session informative and interesting while allowing you to explore new solutions for your own work.I will now hand over to Tennyson to discuss our international rabies control work.
- BERYL
- Every day 150 people die of rabiesIn more than 99% of all cases of human rabies, the virus is transmitted via dogs (WHO 2013)Each year millions of dogs are inhumanely culled in attempt to stop the spread of rabiesScientific evidence suggests that culling dogs does not stop the spread of rabies. Mass dog vaccination is proven to be the only effective and sustainable approach to canine rabies.WSPA’s work demonstrates that leaving culling behind and adopting humanely-delivered mass dog vaccination as part of a wider ‘One Health’ approach can save people’s lives, protect animals and save money.
- Rabies is incurable once clinical symptoms and signs start to show. However it is preventable if dealt with effectively.Addressing animal health, through humane dog vaccinations is key to an effective rabies response. By removing the main source of infection, rabies cases in dogs and other animal populations can be eliminated and human rabies deaths vastly reduced.All relevant sectors (so livestock, veterinary, public health etc.) need to pool efforts under a coordinated framework.Requires a strong political will and other key elements such as effective treatment, education, diagnostics and surveillance facilities to make it work.
- It stops cruelty. Millions of dogs are saved from needless inhumane culling that is driven by a fear of rabies.Millions of cases of rabies in dogs are also prevented; vaccination promotes a more responsible and less fearful attitude towards dogs within communities.It protects the community.By removing this main source of infection, rabies cases in dogs and other animal populations can be eliminated and human rabies deaths vastly reduced.Economic: It saves money.Vaccinating dogs is not only more effective than culling dogs for controlling rabies, but it is also very cost-effective.As more dogs are vaccinated, fewer people are bitten by rabid dogs and this can greatly reduce the demand for costly human vaccines given for post-exposure treatment.
- Livestock are owned by 70 per cent of the world’s poor, who are also the group most vulnerable to the health impacts of disasters. As many aspects of their income and diet are derived from animals, the loss of livestock and working animals can leave whole communities facing a significant second disaster in the form of long-term malnutrition, food insecurity, debt and dependency. Welfare is often overlooked or not included despite the significant role of animals is increasingly being recognised.
- These solutions provide protection measures for communities to save their animals and ultimately reduces their vulnerability to shocks, aids in faster recovery and strengthens their health resilience. Our work is global, as are our partnerships, and there are numerous examples of where we have been able to build community resilience. From our work in post-earthquake Haiti, to the drought in East Africa we have been actively involved in community life and their animals. The example of the Mexican state of Chihuahua is an excellent case study for how these partnership solutions can be implemented. This piece of work that was presented/highlighted and well received at the UNISDR Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in May 2013. The communities in this region are highly dependent on pastoral and agricultural activities. WSPA worked in partnership with the local government (Chihuahua state government), national government (National Coordination of Civil Defence), other organisations and local community champions in the affected state to strengthen their health resilience. It is because of this partnership work that we were able to improve the lives and health of animals and humans alike.
- We have extensive examples of our collaboration-focused work. I will now take the opportunity to highlight a few examples globally.
- The floods to hit Assam state in India in 2012 devastated the communities there when thousands of animals died. The communities affected are completely reliant on their animals for agricultural outputs, and those remaining animals who had survived the floods would not last long if support was not given. WSPA worked in partnership with the local government and other organisations in the affected state. By providing the basic needs of the animals to help see them through the emergency phase our teams were able to work with the communities to identify gaps where community members could help utilise tools and build techniques into future resilience. We helped build a feed storage tower to keep the animal feed away from risk of further flooding later in the season, provided training for the animal owners in effective animal welfare management along with the design of a community plan that included animals and ultimately an important source of nutrition in a disaster. This was all done with full community participation and has been a huge success, truly representative of a One Health approach.
- When the earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, WSPA found and co-chaired a power urban coalition addressing the nutrition and public health concerns. Among other outputs, we provided vaccinations and mobile treatment clinics as it was the best means determined to reach vulnerable populations. This further provided capacity building for the government and the ability to control disease outbreaks. Assessment showed people had very low perception of their own risk and how to handle disasters. The public awareness PSAs through radio, TV and media allowed for a high increase in public awareness on disaster preparedness as measured by our post-campaign focus groups. Our partnership with the government was strengthened through the capacity building work of the coalition. Our work with local media strengthened community resilience. Both, truly representative of the impact of One Health collaboration.
- A three year drought in Kenya had significantly lowered livestock immunity in Mwingi, a community that is largely economic-dependent on livestock for the sale of animal products in local markets as a nutrition source. WSPA and its partners introduced an intervention to provide livestock (including cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys) with veterinary treatment, vaccination, supplementary feed and water tankering, for animals that would have otherwise been forced to walk long distances to watering points. By reducing the spread of disease and increasing animal health, WSPA, the Kenya government, the Ministry of Livestock Development and the University of Nairobi worked together to sustain pastoral livelihoods in East Africa. The ‘One Health’ approach is a success again.
- To further show the necessity of animals within disaster management, WSPA has developed a paper demonstrating how losing livestock can lead to decreased ability to access credit, reduced agricultural output and reduced nutritional intake.In addition to this paper, we are able to demonstrate through our work in Kenya the loss of losing livestock plays a strong role economically. Based on economic analysis conducted by WSPA in Kenya, over a one year time period, the intervention focused on livestock protection generated $2.74 of benefits in the form of avoided losses for every $1 spent. If the time period is extended to 3 years, the benefit-cost ratio increases to $6.69 in benefits for every $1 spent (Economists at Large, 2013). As a long term goal for this project, WSPA is engaging in pioneering research partnering with key global economists to develop a model to help calculate the economic loss of animals. This model will be the first of its kind and will support the movement in attempting to quantify the long term impact and identify further solutions for health where communities are reliant on livestock. Powerful partnerships ensure that proper disaster planning is put in place. When animal health is taken into consideration through proper disaster planning, this will help to address root causes of malnutrition, and in turn, lowers a community’s health vulnerability.
- Thisproject and allourinterventionscontributetoimprovingthelives of affectedcommunitiesbecause of thepowerfulpartnershipsestablishedbetweenthecommunity, thegovernment and civil society, including WSPA and theacademicsociety. Wesupporttheclaimforfurtherevidence, especially of economicnature, in thesesuccessfulproject. As such, we are abletoprovidethegovernmentsweworkwith and otherpartnerstestedresearchontheimpact of losinglivestocks in disasters.
- Our farm animal welfare programme is embedded in the sustainability debate. Farm animal production has significant impact on the environment, economics, jobs and livelihoods, food security and public health. The method of rearing animals, is closely linked to all of these issues. For example: Antibiotics are often used routinely in animal production, not to treat individual sick animals but to prevent or check infections and sometimes merely to promote growth. Resistant disease-causing bacteria are developed in the animals and these can be passed to people either through food or through contact with animals, and spread through the community. Antibiotics should not be used as a substitute for good animal husbandry, or as a support for farming systems that can encourage infections. High welfare animal farming promotes positive health and robustness in the animals and uses antibiotics only to treat sick animals when an infection has been diagnosed. That is why we see farm animal welfare as integral to solving sustainability challenges. This is evident in the way we work – the solutions we recommend have to be economically viable for farmers, good for business and provide safe and sufficient food.
- Why work with an animal welfare NGO, what do we have to do with sustainability?We are committed to finding sustainable solutions, that work in practice for farmers,business and policymakers. WSPA comes from a positive position of pragmatic ambition. Our work, such as our internationally renowned humane slaughter programme, is about collaborating with industry to develop best practice. We have also adopted that partnership approach when asking questions of the main challenges that face us. So here today I am going to talk you through two pieces of research we commissioned, some with NGO partner Compassion in World Farming and withindependent scientists to look at the place of animal welfare in the wider picture of sustainability.
- We know that the world is facing major challenges in feeding a growing world population with growing demand for livestock products. So firstly we asked the most fundamental question: whether it was possible to gain sufficient food production from systems which deliver good, or better, animal welfare. Karl-Heinz Erb and his team at the Austrian Institute of Social Ecology at Klagenfurt University, compared different systems of animal production using globally accepted data sets. Their conclusion from that work was that good welfare systems can be highly productive and can produce sufficient food to feed the world, now and in future projections.They also rang an alarm bell, that growth of consumption, following a business as usual pattern, especially with growth of meat and dairy consumption to Western levels in emerging economies, will lead to food shortages.It was also clear that adoption of sustainable diets in wealthy countries can increase the operating space for food production as demand grows.Now we know that the issue of food security is never this simple. But it does show in principle that animal welfare can be integrated into highly productive food production.
- Moving on to environmental sustainability: A great deal of research has been undertaken to identify ways of rearing and keeping animals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The received wisdom has been that, to reduce emissions, we need to increase yield per cow per year through use of high yielding breeds, use of concentrated feed and indoor housing. However, these figures present a very narrow view of the true climate impacts of milk production – they are based on emissions from milk cowsonly so do not consider the knock-on effects of using very specialised animals which produce a lot of milk, but less beef. They also don’t consider the shortened lifespan of high yielding cows. We worked with Best Foot Forward, an Oxford based environmental assessment agency, to look at dairy carbon footprint in Europe.They modelled dairy production systems in the UK, using representative data from industry, of typical farms. They asked an important questions: What are the consequences of dairy intensification and zero grazing for the whole picture of dairy, if you include dairy beef in the model.You can see the different farming types they modelled on the slide: Herd A (on the left) produces medium outputs of milk but uses robust cows which are kept on pasture and the male calves are used for beef production. Herd B is very specialised for milk production and cows are kept indoors (zero-grazed). Male dairy calves are not well suited for beef production. The results showed that the apparent benefits of intensification of dairy are a mirage – the pasture-based dairy cow (herd A) has lower emissions per litre of milk than the highly intensive indoor reared dairy cow (herd B) – because of the better health and longevity of robust breeds of cows in these pasture-base systems, the benefit of producing more dairy beef on these farms and less need for concentrated feed.
- Here is an example from Uruguay which illustrates the importance of animal welfare in sustainable food production.Poor handling of animals at time of slaughter damages almost half of Uruguay’s beef carcasses. This is costing the industry $100 million dollars every year, equivalent to 3,000 tonnes of meat. Improving the welfare of animals at slaughter has signficant economic and productivity benefits, as well as benefitting worker health and safety.Introduce Kenya film case study:Next we will look at the role of animal welfare in securing livelihoods. The short film illustrates the benefits of improving animal health and welfare for economics and livelihoods in Kenya. Dairy production is Kenya’s leading agricultural sector, with almost 2 million small-scale farmers delivering 80 per cent of all milk in the country.This film shows how a dairy co-operative in Kenya has been successful by paying attention to thehusbandry,health and welfare of individual animals through by giving access to feed, veterinary care and training and importantly, choosing a model of farming and breed of cow that is resilient and suited to the local environment.
- MIKE
- Demand for wildlife The global demand and trade of exotic pets is growing. Translocation of wild animals is associated with the spread of several zoonoses. Diseases which affect or are carried by wild animals, such as those destined for the exotic pet trade, have the potential to infect domestic species, including livestock which can threaten livelihoods. Worldwide, an estimated 640,000 reptiles, 40,000 primates, 4 million birds and 350 million tropical fish are traded alive each year. The financial impacts can be catastrophic - outbreaks resulting from wildlife trade have caused hundreds of billions of dollars of economic damage globally.destabilizing trade and producing devastating effects on human livelihoods.The flux of emerging or re-emerging livestock disease outbreaks around the world since the mid-1990s, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy, foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza, swine fever, and other diseases, has cost the world's economies $80 billion.Whilst many factors make it difficult to quantify the exact prevalence of zoonotic diseases in the human population, research indicates that around 60% of all human diseases are zoonotic, and wildlife and domestic animals are of equal importance as reservoir hosts. Furthermore, 75% of global emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic and have a wild animal link.
- Risk to human health is linked to animal welfare:In situations where wild animal welfare is poor thepotential risk to human health may be greater. Extracting and relocating a wild animal into captivity imposes substantial stressors on the animal. The nature of the legal and illegal exotic pet trade animal welfare is seldom considered. Wild extraction, handling and transport can be extremely traumatic and stressful for the animals. The cramped inhumane conditions can result in injury, disease or death through dehydration, starvation or suffocation (mortality rate during the process can be over 80%).Animals experiencing stress are typically more susceptible to illness, and long term stress or captivity-stress can have severe negative impacts on the animals’ immune system. Pathogen burden is typically higher when there are large numbers of stressed animals sharing the same environment and air space. This is especially true when animals are in close proximity to dealers, handlers and the general public. Wildlife markets and trade fairs are considered especially high-risk infection hubs:The species diversity, poor hygiene and stressful cramped conditions facilitate microbial transfer. Direct and indirect contact with animals of uncertain origin and health state introduces a significant risk factor to humans.
- A practical approach to reduce exposure would include humane efforts to decrease the contact rate among wild animals and individuals, including humans.No wildlife trade is the optimum - the only way to completely erase risk.Where this is not an option ensuring improved/high animal welfare is critical
- MIKEI know that many of those present today will, in one way or another, be involved in the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals process. WSPA would like to be your partner in this process. We have developed a number or suggestions in the form of specific targets and indicators that we hope we will be able to present to you in detail in the coming period. Our proposal is available at the door and on our exhibition stand and we would very much appreciate your feedback on these once you have some time.With regard to the issue of public health and the direct link that exists between human and animal health and well-being, WSPA is proposing that a new goal on health should consider the threat of new and emerging infectious diseases, including zoonotic diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) asserts that around 60 per cent of all diseases affecting people and around 75 per cent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic. Moreover, we feel that the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics, used primarily in low welfare industrial livestock production systems has to be phased out as soon as possible. The costs of antimicrobial resistance in humans are expected to be astronomical if we fail to stop this. Enhancing animal welfare will reduce the emergence of new zoonotic diseases and reduces the need for growth promotion in livestock production. The prevention of healthcare costs that can be achieved through this will be essential if the global objective of affordable healthcare for all is to be achieved. We hope that with your help we can get these targets included under the public health goals in the new Sustainable Development Framework.
- We will continue to work directly with governments, local communities, IGOs, NGOs and industry to demonstrate how improvements in animal welfare globally will have a positive impact on a range of human health and environmental issues.Thank you very much for your attention today and we would welcome any questions.