Prague, 25 July
2008
Dr Al G o r e
Former
Recipient of the Nobel
Peace Prize
------------------------------------------
Re: Globalization of
infectious diseases – underestimated dangerous threat to our planet biosphere
Dear Dr Al Gore,
first I would like to congratulate you to the
Nobel Peace Prize recognizing your key role in the world campaign against
global warming. This fact and your motto “Real
security of our planet is closely associated with the protection of the
biosphere” have inspired me to inform you about strongly underestimated serious threat to our
planet biosphere by man-made conscious
spread and globalization of infectious diseases in animal kingdom (including Homo sapiens). The pathogenic microflora represents an integral component of the biosphere. More information see in
attached copies of letters sent to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN
Secretary-General and to Dr
Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director. I am writing as retired former United Nations' officer responsible for UN
animal health policy who still feels
moral professional duty not to be silent to this unacceptable situation. I hope that you, as international top authority
in biosphere protection, could help to stop also the mentioned dangerous
practice.
1. All my
efforts to stop consciously organized long distance spreading of animal
infectious diseases through international trade without sanitary guarantee have
been, unfortunately, without any positive results. I have sent a series of warning letters to the most responsible
officers in this domain such as Director General, World Trade Organization in
2. Invisible enemy of bioterror importance - animal infectious diseases, including those transmissible to man, are spreading as never before in spite of having enormous quantity of scientific information as never before. The international regulations of the trade in animals and animal products are unilaterally supporting profiting major exporting countries at the expense of importing country biosphere, animal and human health. The intergovernmental organizations involved in this trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) in its “Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures” (SPS) and the International Office of Epizootics (OIE) in its “International animal health Code”, even do not use the terms such “healthy animals” or “ pathogen-free animal products” or “ infection-free food of animal origin”, etc..
3. These
organizations even do not admit importing countries to require infection-free animal
commodities. Due to WTO/OIE policy the importing country governments, consumers
of imported food and animal owners of imported animals are deliberately not
informed on sanitary quality of these commodities, i.e. if they are sanitary
innocuous or not. The mentioned international organizations are supporting the
animal export without requiring any
sanitary guarantee. The result is daily
mass spreading of almost all known animal infectious diseases without importing countries being able to eradicate
them. The globalization of these
infectious diseases is becoming
irreparable ! Even Homo sapiens (belongs to animal kingdom) could become gradually endangered
biological species !
4. Animal infectious disease long distance spread and globalization is
almost in full man-made. This fact is confirmed by daily practice what
cannot be contested by anybody who thinks normally. However, there is again a conflict of interest, on one side the
protection of health and biosphere and on the other side the effort of
exporting countries and organizations profiting from extremely benevolent rules
admitting trade in non-infection-free animals and their products conducing to our
planet colonization by animal infectious diseases. It reminds me your analogue
“conflict” between the measures against man-made global warming and industry
interests profiting from non-respecting the principles of biosphere protection.
5.
Similarly as the WTO/OIE policy not
recognizing infection-free animal commodity import and applying OIE risk
assessment speculative and theoretical method, some other relevant
international institutions (dominated also by almost the same major exporting
countries), such as the FAO/WHO
6. No any international organization has
issued a statement that the food of animal origin for international trade must
be free of all foodborne infection pathogens!
More information in my text “The
International Office of Epizootics (OIE) – World Organization for Animal
Infection Globalization (not admitting to require infection-free import)” in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/orgglobalization.htm.
7. The global information system on animal
infectious disease occurrence has been deliberately reduced by the OIE to almost zero, on animal infectious disease
import was eliminated at all and on infected animal products occurrence is not
existent, i.e. necessary data on infectious disease export/import are therefore
missing.
8. The barrier of powerful exporting lobby, supported by only economic arguments, is so great that the health and biosphere protection priorities of importing countries themselves have not any chance to break it. It reminds similar situation in your, your colleagues and UNEP fighting against man-made global warming, i.e. contra the lobby of the powerful countries using similarly only economic arguments.
9. The policy of both mentioned organizations
consists also in not requiring any sanitary quality guarantee ! It is strange how they could betray
all principles of international fair trade and of animal and human health
protection regardless of their duties and constitutions. The pressure of the
dominating major exporting countries and their business lobby must be enormous.
Note: Also the legal import of animals and animal
products in the
„The magnitude
of the global movement of animals is staggering. In terms of sheer numbers,
37,858,179 individually counting live amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles
were legally imported to the
10. You have
rich experience in mobilizing world
public against man-made global warming to support your programme. This is
what is missing as far as the actions against man-made infectious disease
spreading and globalization are concerned. No any intergovernmental organization, no any
international scientific institute, no any university and no any professional
association have been interested in fighting against the anti-sanitary trade
policy conducing to global ecological and sanitary disasters. Even no any UN
agency (e.g. FAO) and no any government have dared to go against the WTO and
the OIE very dangerous policy being unfortunately in service of the major
exporting countries dominating obviously not only these two organizations but
also international mass information media.
Note:
11. Nobody is
courageous to go against the international economic powerful institutions’
interest defending their enormous profit from relatively easy export of animal commodities without any sanitary guarantee at the expense of animal and human
health as well as biosphere in
importing countries. For the often corrupt
bureaucrats and armchair theoreticians
is preferable to continue in relatively non-conflicting well paid jobs and not
to complicate their often comfortable life.
12. The only way is to mobilize
world public informing them truthfully about the reality and about the threats
for their health, planetary biosphere and mankind surviving, similarly as you and your colleagues have done to convince the world about the
truth in case of global warming.
13. The above mentioned documents confirm
"anti-sanitary" policy admitting explicitly even the import of
commodities containing pathogens transmissible to man : “… human health risks to which people voluntarily expose
themselves." !? I have not any doubt that nobody, even the authors themselves,
would agree to be voluntarily infected
by imported infectious disease agents causing suffering and death and to pay
for it. This simple example demonstrates the perversity of the WTO/SPS and of the OIE Code when requiring the
importing countries to sacrifice their health and lives for the profit of
exporting country business. It can make the impression that the major exporting
countries dominating the both organizations are capable for their profit to let
to destroy our planet biosphere applying the saying “when we are dead and gone, who cares !”.
14. No any international organization protects
effectively and in full global biosphere and population health against imported
animal infectious diseases.
15. I remember recent conflicting discussions
about the role of the man in global warming. In our case the problem could
be more transparent. It could be easier and more convincing when considering
the WTO/SPS and OIE Code provisions
consciously unilaterally favouring to infectious disease export with
negative consequences in importing countries. In spite of this, the
economically profiting exporting countries and their lobby will again be doing
everything possible to continue and save the mentioned documents and practice
regardless of the health and biosphere protection requirements in the importing
countries (“Carps will not drain their
pond”). The organized animal infectious disease spreading through
international trade is the reality what cannot be refused by the opponents
defending this kind of discriminatory trade. Everybody must recognize that the
man-made imported infectious diseases represent a serious danger for the health
and lives and therefore the requirement to stop this practice should not be
conflicting for normally thinking people not being corrupt by pro-export lobby.
16. Very
important would be the UNEP and the FAO taking
over the global responsibility for animal and human population protection
against consciously spreading animal infectious disease agents representing
integral part of our planet biosphere problem.
17.
You know very well that any good idea to be transferred into practice requires
a mechanism for its implementation. One of the first step should be to strengthen significantly government
professional animal health service, unfortunately dismantled during 1990’s.
Note: My last action, as the Chief of Animal Health
Service, before leaving the FAO in 1991, was the publication of “Guidelines
for Strengthening of Animal Health Services in Developing
Countries” (FAO-M/U2200E/7 91 1 3000) translated in French and Spanish.
---------------------------------
More detailed information can be found in: http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz.html.
The list of relevant texts and statistics of this website can be found in the
attached copy of my letter sent to the UNEP Executive Director.
Recommendations for
your consideration
a) I
would like to recommend you to include in your biosphere protection programmes
also the problems related to the global microflora, as an integral
component of the environment, and in particular its pathogenic species
attacking human and animals.
b) I would like to recommend you to use your international
authority and support in a suitable form my recommendations I have sent to
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General and to Dr
Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director.
c) Probably the
most important action would be your personal impulse to alarm the world public through international mass
information media to inform governments, consumers and animal owners about the truth on
imported animals and animal commodities being without any sanitary guarantee of
infection-free status and about the risk for the health and the biosphere as well
as for future development of the mankind. This kind of information could
stimulate governments, consumers and animal owners to require themselves to be
properly informed on sanitary quality guarantee of imported animals and their products,
i.e. if they are infectious-disease-free
or not.
As a retired person I cannot do more than to warn and ask relevant organizations and internationally influential persons to help in protecting global health and biosphere against infectious diseases.
Please,
could you acknowledge receipt of
this letter ? Thanks.
Primum non nocere !
Yours sincerely,
Prof. MVDr Václav K o u b a,
DrSc.
Former Chief, Animal Health
Service,
Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Address: P.B. 516, 17000 Praha
7,
Attachments:
Copies of letters to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General
and to Dr Achim
Steiner, UNEP Executive Director.