Pollution, encroachment on wildlife reasons of emerging diseases – don

Prof. Olanike Adeyemo of the University of Ibadan has called for a holistic approach to end environmental pollution and ensure best possible health outcome for humans and animals.

Adeyemo, a professor of Aquatic Epidemiology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, stated that there were emerging diseases and increased cases of others such as cancer due to environmental pollution and encroachment on wildlife territory.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeyemo spoke in Ibadan on Thursday evening while delivering her inaugural lecture entitled: ‘Environmental, Animal and Human Health: The Three Braided Cord for a Public Health Veterinarian’. at the university.

She advised the government to be proactive in tackling the current challenges.

“What the government needs to do is to be proactive; most of the time, we are very reactive.

“One, we need to stop encroaching on wildlife territory; we are building widely and the gap between humans and animals is getting closer.

“Because we are going into their habitats and we are not taking the necessary precautions, that is why you have the exchange of diseases happening more and more.

“There are more conflicts between animals, humans and the environment; we need not to be closer together and we need to deal with that.

“In proffering solutions we need to think about all the dimensions otherwise you solve one problem and you will start another one,” she said.

Adeyemo further stated that some of the most prominent issues putting pressure on global health presently include dramatic emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases.

Others, she said, were contamination of food, water and soil, bio-terrorist events and the degradation of resources and habitats.