Dr. Neil Vora is no stranger to dangerous diseases, as a former epidemic intelligence service officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Vora has deployed to nations like Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to combat outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus, and is an ardent supporter of investing in public health responses. Yet he much prefers that global leaders prioritize preventing outbreaks before they occur instead of rushing to respond to them. The best way to do this, he says, is by investing in protecting nature. He joins the Mongabay Newscast to share his knowledge of why “spillover” of zoonotic diseases — when a pathogen jumps from wildlife to humans — increasingly occurs due to deforestation and land-use change. “All too often, when we wait for these outbreaks to happen, and we have to respond with vaccines and medicines, the people who are in greatest need have least amount of access to those vaccines and medicines. Whereas when you prevent the outbreak from happening at all, everyone benefits everywhere, particularly the people who are most marginalized,” Vora says. He also says that despite science’s importance in studying and combating viruses, art and philosophy are necessary — and perhaps underutilized — tools to drive the global change needed to prevent further outbreaks. “If we want to see societal transformation, we’re going to need people feeling inspired, and that’s where art and philosophy come in,” Vora says. He expands on Indigenous author and scholar Robin Wall…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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