A Pandemic Treaty and Wildlife Trade

Abstract

Institutional arrangements are key for problem-solving; therefore, pandemics require a strong governance response. While a plethora of ideas about prevention actions for pandemics have been advanced, there has been relatively limited consideration for how those can be operationalized through governance macro structures, particularly within the context of the wildlife trade as a zoonotic driver. Pandemic prevention governance has mostly focused on outbreak surveillance, containment, and response, rather than on avoiding zoonotic spillovers. However, given acceleration of globalization, a paradigm shift towards zoonotic spillover prevention is warranted as outbreak containment becomes unfeasible. Here, we consider the current institutional landscape for pandemic prevention in light of potential negotiations of a ‘Pandemic Treaty’, and how zoonotic spillover prevention from the wildlife trade could be incorporated. We argue that such an institutional arrangement should focus on improving coordination across four policy domains, namely public health, biodiversity conservation, food security, and trade. A Pandemic Treaty should be negotiated initially as a Framework Convention, with subsequent protocols, including a Pandemic Prevention Protocol with specific provisions for the wildlife trade. This Protocol should include four clear interacting goals: risk understanding, risk assessment, risk reduction, and enabling funding. Despite the need to keep political attention on solving the current pandemic, we cannot afford missing the opportunity of the current crisis to catalyse institution building for preventing future pandemics.

Keywords: global health governance, global governance, zoonoses, disease outbreak, wildlife trade, COVID-19, pandemic prevention