Taking Action - Turning Evolutionary Theory into Preventive Policies   

Abstract

The Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) crisis has been challenging global health security for decades, dealing substantial damage to all socio-economic landscapes. Control measures have failed to prevent or even mitigate damages of an accelerating wave of EIDs, leading to the emergence and devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of the pandemic we must critically review our public health policies and approaches. Current health security measures are based on the evolutionary theorem of host-parasite coevolution, which falsely deems EIDs are rare and unpredictable. The DAMA protocol is nested in a novel evolutionary framework describing how emergence can be prevented before the onset of an outbreak. In this paper, we discuss the importance of establishing efficient communication channels between various stakeholders affected by EIDs. We describe implementation strategies of preventive interventions on global, regional and local scales, and provide guidelines for using such strategies in relevant policy environments of human, livestock and crop diseases.