FVE welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on a reinforced role for the European Medicines Agency in crisis preparedness and management for medicinal products and medical devices and our opportunity to comment on it.
However, FVE misses in the proposal the much needed One Health approach.
The Covid-19 pandemic, likewise SARS and MERS indicate that health of humans, animals and the environment are inextricably linked. Our planet becomes more populated, more interconnected via the increasing global trade and challenged by climate change. This leads to increasing contacts between wildlife and intermediate hosts, animals and humans, which enhances the possibility for outbreaks of zoonotic diseases.
This crisis revealed the need for a paradigm shift, including holistic consideration of our environment and the intersectoral collaboration between doctors, veterinarians and environmental experts using the One Health approach.
