Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed gratitude to the President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Abdulla Shahid for his message to commemorate World Health Day 2022.
In a Twitter post, the WHO Director-General thanked the Maldivian Foreign Minister for his message.
In his message, FM Shahid revealed that the health of the people, is connected to the health of the planet.
Our health is connected to the health of the planet. In fact, there is not one single planetary issue that is not a health issue, whether it is climate change, pollution or biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Each of these have far reaching impacts on the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the shelters and communities that we call home.”Abdulla Shahid, UNGA President.
Going on to highlight that nothing good follows when the people ignore the relationship between health and the environment, FM Shahid noted that this fact is testified by Covid-19, which he described as a “zoonotic” virus that was passed on from wildlife to humans.
As such, FM Shahid noted that the pandemic is a “clear” demonstration of the “havoc” that could be unleashed when humanity intrudes on nature’s domain, recklessly.
With this being said, he urged the people to take action against unregulated wildlife trade and unsustainable agricultural practices that have exposed humans to unknown pathogens and disease
The Maldivian foreign minister noted that roughly 24 percent of global deaths are linked to the environment and that plastics have “already made inroads into our food chain”.
Unhealthy sugar-laden diets are driving a wave of obesity globally. Growing pollution is contributing to a large cohort of people suffering from asthma and lung disease. Extreme weather events and degradation and water scarcity are displacing people and affecting their health.”Abdulla Shahid, UNGA President.
