The World Health Organisation (WHO) is coming under some of the greatest pressure it has experienced in its 72-year history – to force the closure of live animal markets to prevent future pandemics.
The new joint letter calls on the WHO to recommend to governments worldwide that they bring in permanent bans on live wildlife markets and close down or limit trade in wildlife to reduce the threat to human health.
In February, the Chinese government temporarily banned such markets, although there is evidence some sellers have started up again or are dealing online.
The experts also want the use of wildlife, including from captive-bred animals, to be “unequivocally” excluded from the organisation’s definition and endorsement of traditional medicine.
Last year the WHO added traditional Chinese medicine, which uses animal body parts, to its influential global compendium.
The United Nations’ biodiversity chief has also added her weight to demands for a global ban on wildlife markets.
Markets selling live animals – both captured from the wild and bred in captivity – are popular in southeast Asia but also exist in Africa and South America. »
![image for [OC] The absolute quality of Breaking Bad.](f9f99f34-4c65-5c8a-aa4b-f5db215ccf96_thumb.jpg)
