WWF launches campaign against wildlife meat consumption
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on October 21 launched a communications campaign in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to change the habit of consuming wildlife meat among urban people, highlighting the threats to public health and the nature.
Hanoi (VNA) – The World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF) on October 21 launched a communications campaign in Vietnam, Laos andCambodia to change the habit of consuming wildlife meat among urban people, highlightingthe threats to public health and the nature.
Van Ngoc Thinh, Director of WWF Vietnam, saidthat Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are showing high levels of wildlifeconsumption, especially mammals and birds that are easily found in markets andrestaurants.
He cited a survey by WWF and GlobeScan in 2021 in Vietnam, Thailand,Japan, China and the US which showed that 7% of the total people asked said that theyor someone they knew had bought wildlife meat products at wildlife markets inthe past 12 months.
The consumption of wild animal meat severely degrades wildlifepopulations, causes cross-border and domestic crimes, and significantlyincreases the risk of zoonotic disease transmission, he said, stressing that mostconsumers are not aware of the potential risks that they, their family and the society face when buying bushmeat.
Meanwhile, Dao Ngoc Van, WWF Vietnam’s senior advisor forwildlife trafficking combat, said that the main reason for people to eatwildlife meat is they believe it is fresh and delicious, helpingthem to show their social status, or improve their health. Through thecampaign, the WWF hopes that the target group in particular and the public ingeneral understand that wild animal meat consumption is not worth risking the health of themselves and the community, Van said.
Nguyen Van Long, Acting Director of the Department of Animal Health under theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that there have beenincreasingly number of dangerous infectious diseases originating from wildanimals that spread to humans such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola, MERS-Cov, COVID-19,Monkeypox.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH),in the last 60 years, 335 emerging diseases have occurred in humans, in which144 pathogens (43%) originate from wild animals.
Long said that in order to improve the State management efficiency inpreventing and controlling dangerous diseases transmitted from wild animals tohuman, along with implementing recommendations from internationalorganisations, it is necessary to review and supplement relevant legaldocuments, and foster the inter-sectoral collaboration among agencies involvingin wildlife management, especially media agencies in popularising internationaland national regulations regarding wild animals, and raising public awarenessof health risks during hunting, breeding, slaughtering and consuming wild animalsfor themselves and the community./.
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At the launching ceremony (Photo: VNA) 
