News item | 06-07-2022 | 16:32
In order to further reduce the risks of the development and spread of zoonoses in the future, the National Action Plan to strengthen zoonoses policy has been drawn up. Zoonoses are infectious diseases that can be passed from animals to humans, such as Lyme disease and COVID-19. The plan, which contains many actions for the next four years, was sent to the House of Representatives today on World Zoonoses Day by Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Ernst Kuipers, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Henk Staghouwer and Minister of Nature and Nitrogen Christianne van der Wal.
The Netherlands has a strong zoonoses policy, and in a rapidly changing world it is good to regularly review and adjust this policy. In a densely populated country with many people and animals, it is necessary that a lot of attention is paid to this. Public health comes first at all times.
Prevention
The focus of the action plan is on prevention. There is a good chance that another zoonosis outbreak will start abroad. That is why there is intensive international cooperation between countries to prevent zoonoses and to monitor and combat them as effectively as possible. The Netherlands shares its knowledge about zoonoses and encourages other countries to also draw up an action plan. For example, worldwide deforestation allows people to come into contact with wild animals earlier. Internationally, the government is making every effort to reduce deforestation and associated risks as much as possible.
Climate change also brings new risks, for example the spread of disease by ticks and mosquitoes. As part of the action plan, RIVM and NVWA are setting up a Knowledge Platform to better prevent infectious diseases spread by, for example, mosquitoes.
In the Netherlands, the action plan means, among other things, attention to reducing the risks of zoonoses in the livestock sector and at animal fairs. There will be more supervision on (illegal) trade in animals and their meat. In livestock farming, efforts are being made to take extra hygiene measures and reduce the chance of the transmission of zoonoses between companies. The Netherlands is also working closely with other European countries to enable responsible vaccination of poultry against bird flu. In addition, the risks of zoonoses are included in the integrated area-specific approach for nitrogen, water and climate in order to reduce, where possible, the risk of outbreaks with and the spread of (zoonotic) pathogens in livestock farming.
In the Netherlands, zoonosis risks must be taken into account more closely in developments in urban and rural areas. Local authorities are supported in this by the national government. Furthermore, citizens and professionals need to have more knowledge about zoonoses in order to be able to take their risks into account. That is why efforts are being made to provide additional information and information about zoonoses.
Detection
The action plan also pays attention to an even better detection of zoonoses, by linking information from different surveillance sources. This involves looking at everything that takes place in the triangle of living environment, animals and people. The exchange of data on zoonoses in the living environment, animals and humans is essential to quickly pick up on signals.
response
If, despite strengthening prevention and detection, an outbreak should occur, a rapid and effective response is important. To achieve this, the response scenarios will be better aligned. In any case, a possible zoonosis outbreak is regularly practiced with the parties involved, so that everyone knows what to do in the event of a real outbreak.
Pandemic Preparedness
The action plan was drawn up after intensive discussions with experts and stakeholders and on the basis of the recommendations from the report of the expert group on zoonoses led by Mr. Bekedam. With this plan, the government is contributing to improved pandemic preparedness, so that the Netherlands is better prepared for a new pandemic in the future. Through a good approach at the source, illness and death are limited as much as possible and society is disrupted as little as possible.