In the European Commission’s cartoon strip Infected (see EUROPE 12486/1) more than in the Steven Soderbergh film Contagion, the importance of international cooperation is underlined as a key area of the action required to tackle a pandemic such as Covid-19. In 2011, when Infected was written, the European Union fully lived up to its role as a promoter of multilateralism alongside the United Nations and the United States.
A scene in the cartoon shows a plenary session debate at the European Parliament, where a number of characters are stressing the importance of cross-sector cooperation, to better prevent and contain a pandemic that originated in the animal kingdom. This describes the 'One Health' concept. “The ‘One Health’ approach that addresses health risks at the intersection between animals, humans and their various environments will be one of the key global challenges in the years to come”, one of the characters observes.
“The One Health concept is a collaborative multisectoral and transdisciplinary approach. It works at local, national, regional and global levels. The goal is to achieve optimal health outcomes by recognising – and this is the key – the interconnection among people, animal, plants and their shared environment. So we are talking about an ecosystem here”, Ambassador John Lange, who served as the US Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza between 2006 and 2009, told EUROPE on Friday 8 May.
He went on to express his delight at being “the first US diplomat in American history ever to be depicted in a graphic novel published by the European Union” – a reference to the Infected character Jack Frost, who was based on Ambassador Lange.
In the early 2000s, in the wake of the SARS-CoV-1 virus, the international community mobilised. The WHO developed a binding international health regulation. At the Beijing conference of January 2006, which was held amid pressure from the EU, more than a hundred participating countries launched the international pandemic preparedness movement. They undertook to develop national action plans to prevent, detect and tackle emergency public health situations. Emphasis was also laid on the exchange of information and biological materials, and on research into vaccines and anti-viral drugs.
At the time, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) had the international community fearing the worst. Along with the European Union, Ambassador Lange explained, “what we tried to do was be as well-prepared as possible” for the sustained spread of the H5N1 virus to humans, which did not turn into a pandemic but “could still do so one day”. A number of international events took place one after the other, helping to spread the One Health concept. The aim was to ensure that in the host countries, “the health and agriculture ministers talk to each other and work together on this concept”, he added. However, “we should not underestimate the difficulties”. Equally, the importance of “cultural issues” cannot be overstated, he added, referring to the example of “wet markets”, where wild and farmed animals, still alive or already slaughtered, are brought together, and which are common in Asia.
Internationally, the European Union is engaged both politically and financially. It brings pressure to bear upon international organisations to exchange information and coordinate their public communications. The European External Action Service has a post dedicated to pandemic preparedness.
After just a few years, however, these carefully woven networks around a few key players started to unravel. “It was as though there was suddenly ‘pandemic fatigue’. We lowered our guard”, said the European expert. Within the EU, the One Health concept became redirected into tackling microbial resistance. In academic circles, it is still a subject of study and publications continue to appear.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic served as a wake-up call. It proved the predictions correct and increased the credibility of the One Health approach. Ambassador Lange confirms this: at the time, we were focusing on the risks of a highly pathogenic avian influenza pandemic; now, we are dealing with a declared coronavirus pandemic. “Everything else is virtually the same and is what was announced”, he said.
More than ever, the priority needs to be on prevention. “More efforts will be deployed in preventative activities”, the American diplomat predicts. He considers that the WHO’s international health regulations could be reformed on the basis of recent experience and that the analysis and monitoring capacities of the first-line countries should be bolstered through the efforts of the international community.
And what if Infected were to be updated? In addition to the three representatives of the EU, the United States and the UN respectively, there should be a fourth, Chinese, musketeer, as China’s geopolitical role is now beyond question. At the end of the book, an educational dossier informs readers about the scientific facts underlying the fiction. If the cartoon were updated, the coronavirus pandemic would be added to the list of other serious infectious diseases, such as Ebola.
“The cartoon itself can stay as it is, but the final dossier could be updated. It’s a shame it wasn’t distributed more widely!” its scriptwriter, Jean-David Morvan of France, told EUROPE.
Fortunately, Infected is available online free of charge from the website of the publications office of the European Union: https://bit.ly/3cvKFRR
Happy reading!
Mathieu Bion