Given the unhindered onslaught on mother earth, climate change was acquiring huge proportions and started to cause harmful effects on the human as well as animal health, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)’s Animal Science Division Assistant Director General Gaya Prasad, said here on Thursday.
Participating in the inaugural of a workshop on ‘Impact of Climate Change on Emergence of New Diseases’ organised by the Indian Immunologicals Limited, Dr.Prasad called for a coordinated and concerted effort to minimise the impact that had also been hurting the agriculture, food chain and economy.
Stress should be on ‘one-health’ concept with the involvement of those dealing with human diseases, animal diseases and agriculture, he said adding, “fundamental research, applied science and technology, all should come together and strive to redress the damage already caused to the eco-system”.
In his address, S.E. Hasnain of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi said whether one accepted or not, changes in climate were taking place and could be linked to infectious diseases, directly or indirectly. Many diseases that affected humans were turning out to be zoonotic and thus focus was now on human medicine and veterinary medicine coming together for one-health concept, he said.
National Dairy Development Board Chairman T. Nanda Kumar said the impact of climate change was felt disproportionately by the poorer sections and their abilities to cope with it and mitigate were also poor. He stressed the need for working out solutions that were simple and affordable.
In her address, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Soumya Swaminathan, said that it was hard to believe there still exist climate change-sceptics who refuse to accept the harmful impact from changes happening in the climate. The impact has been showing in more ways than can be linked and high temperature conditions that prevailed in some parts of the country this year resulted in hundreds of heat stroke deaths, she said.
Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Secretary Ashok Kumar Angurana rued the loss of balance between protection of eco-system and overexploitation of resources. K.V.Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited said nature’s balance was being unsettled with overexploitation of natural resources that led to emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases.
