National Wildlife Health Policy: Safeguarding Ecosystems and Public Health

The National Wildlife Health Policy (NWHP) serves as an Indian governmental initiative to create systematic approaches for wildlife health surveillance and management. The policy follows directives from both the National One Health Mission and implements preventive measures against zoonotic diseases while improving both disease detection and sector cooperation. The extensive protected area network of India requires Wildlife health management because protection of biodiversity and public health safety depends on it.

Key Points: 

• The National Wildlife Health Policy includes three essential parts to advance its implementation.

• Comprehensive Wildlife Surveillance System: Establishing disease monitoring across terrestrial, marine, and avian ecosystems.

• Integration with National One Health Mission: Coordinated pandemic preparedness and disease control efforts between wildlife, livestock, and human health sectors.

• National Referral Centre for Wildlife (NRC-W): Acting as a referral body for wildlife disease investigation, diagnostics, and treatment.

• National Wildlife Health Database operates as a monitored database containing time-specific data and past records from wildlife components along with animal farming and human health domains.

• Wildlife Health Information System: Streamlining disease surveillance and facility-level reporting with spatial-temporal data integration.

• Satellite Diagnostics Laboratories will develop laboratories adjacent to vital forest regions which enable regular disease detection procedures during critical forest administration periods.

• The prevention of zoonotic spillovers in national parks and sanctuaries occurs through Livestock Vaccination Programs that target vaccinations for domestic animals located near these areas.

Need of National Wildlife Health Policy 

• Today 56% of human developing infectious diseases begin as animal pathogens.

• The vast network of protected areas in India reaches 1,014 locations that cover 5.32% of the national territory requiring constant wildlife health monitoring.

• Preventive wildlife surveillance systems function as a tool for reducing potential pathogens that can transfer between wildlife and human and livestock populations.

Challenges in the Current Framework

• Fragmented Disease Surveillance: Lack of coordination across ministries handling environment, agriculture, and animal husbandry.

• A centralized wildlife health database does not exist which prevents timely disease monitoring.

• The absence of sufficient wildlife disease laboratories creates long delays between diagnosis and treatment processes.

• Field staff members managing wildlife diseases demonstrate poor capacity because they lack proper training and available resources.

• The spread of zoonotic diseases becomes more likely because of unrestricted human contact with wildlife which results from black-market wildlife sales and agricultural animals inhabiting forest areas.

• The Wildlife Protection Act mainly concentrates on conservation activities without establishing proper disease prevention measures or wildlife health management strategies.

• Limited Community Involvement: Low awareness and participation of local communities in vaccination and disease prevention initiatives.

National One Health Mission

• Launched: In 2022 to strengthen inter-ministerial coordination for pandemic preparedness

• Objective: The initiative aims to unite human medical strategies with those of animal disease control throughout both human and animal health domains.

Key Focus Areas:

• 22 BSL-3/4 operational laboratory facilities exist throughout the country for outbreak detection and prevention functions.

• One Health principles require institutional establishment to promote understanding between human health and animal health alongside environmental health.

• Research and surveillance: The system requires further development of research operations as well as surveillance improvements alongside stronger involvement from community members for data sharing initiatives and innovative progress

• National Institute for One Health in Nagpur: Serving as a central coordinating body for national and international One Health activities.

Conclusion

Implementing the National Wildlife Health Policy as a fundamental measure to protect long-term wildlife health in India and stop zoonotic diseases from spreading. The policy advances biodiversity conservation efforts through its disease surveillance programs and diagnostic infrastructure development and inter-sectoral collaboration improvements which create public health security. Through integration with the National One Health Mission India will strengthen its pandemic readiness by adopting a total health framework that manages people along with animals and ecological systems.