Poor People Are at Greater Risk During Pandemics. Climate Change Exacerbates the Problem

Preventing the next pandemic will require not only investment into infectious disease prevention and management, but a tectonic shift in our policies for global development more broadly. We are as strong as our weakest link, and the findings of the TIME survey must be understood through this perspective. Despite supporting the broad goal of zeroing out emissions, the experts polled said specific land use and climate change efforts such as modifying food habits and protecting ecosystems were relatively less important. In some ways, that makes sense, as they do seem distant in the desperate urgency of the moment. In this time of crisis, we naturally prioritize things that can be done quickly—from scaling up vaccine supply to supply chain logistics. But none of this will endure without policies that focus on providing for all; equity in health services and surveillance systems that will work for the rich and the poor. And that’s where land use and climate change become essential. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] We know today that climate change impacts are making the poor even poorer—increasing frequency of extreme weather events destroy livestock and property and the investment made to improve development by governments, forces people to migrate and makes the world more insecure. We also know that current food systems that depend on intensive animal farming practices require extensive use of natural resources—from forests that need to be cu...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 health Magazine Source Type: news