Threats to ecosystem on rise, deputy minister warns

Azerbaijan has taken significant steps in the national biosurveillance and biodefense with the One Health approach, the Deputy Agriculture Minister of Azerbaijan Sarvan Jafarov said during his speech at the symposium entitled "One Health Uncovered: Preparing for COP29 with Intersectoral Insights", Report informs.

The deputy minister said that the government is fighting against diseases such as smallpox, anthrax, brucellosis, swine fever, horse flu and rabies and funds a range of control measures to protect animal health, including vaccination.

Jafarov noted that threats to the ecosystem have been rising.

“The fact that most of the pathogens detected during the last 50 years are of zoonotic-animal origin and related to wild animals is also an indication of this. Considering the interdependence of humans, domestic animals and wild animals, as well as plants, different sectors must join efforts for a common goal.”

He stressed that within the framework of COP-29, together with international partners, both the implementation status and future prospects of the initiatives put forward in the previous COP events regarding the One Health concept will be reviewed.

“The Ministry of Agriculture, while supporting all the initiatives put forward to protect our world from global threats, has contributed to the measures implemented within the framework of those initiatives. The ministry will continue to support and cooperate with such initiatives in the future,” the deputy minister added.