A global pandemic treaty should aim for deep prevention

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 397; no. 10287; pp. 1791 - 1792
• Main Authors: Vinuales, Jorge, Moon, Suerie, Le Moli, Ginevra, Burci, Gian-Luca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.05.2021; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Biodiversity; CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species); Convention on Biological Diversity; Conventions; Desertification; Disease hot spots; Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control; Disease prevention; Endangered species; Environmental degradation; Epidemics; Global Health; Humans; Inspection; International Cooperation; International trade; Land use; Nuclear accidents & safety; Nuclear safety; Outbreaks; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Pathogens; Regulation; Risk management; Safety; Treaties; Wildlife; Wildlife trade; Zoonoses; Zoonoses - prevention & control
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00948-X

Upstream prevention is an area that a global pandemic treaty should address, specifically from the One Health perspective.1,3–6 There is a link between certain key drivers of environmental degradation, such as illicit wildlife traffic or land-use change, and the increased frequency of zoonotic disease outbreaks,4,7 which has led WHO and other organisations to call for the suspension of sales of captured living wild mammals in food markets.8 This link directs attention to the relevance of some widely ratified environmental treaties—eg, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the Convention on Biological Diversity, or the UN Convention to Combat Desertification—for reducing risk of zoonosis. The GPT-SPI would provide the basis for the second aspect of midstream deep prevention regulation that would focus on drawing a map in each country of outbreak hotspots and channels categorised by order of risk and subject to regulation and regular inspection by national authorities.4 This regulatory approach would be informed by standards issued under the GPT-SPI, in a similar way as nuclear safety standards or prudential financial standards. Additionally, a global pandemic treaty could establish an oversight body3 to which national authorities would report at regular intervals on their regulatory action following a reporting or peer-review format akin to that of the Convention on Nuclear Safety.12 Although a peer-review mechanism might appear too lenient, in both nuclear safety and health security, each state through its national authorities has a strong self-interest to prevent nuclear accidents or disease outbreaks from occurring.