Good Day BIO: World Health Day – plus, momentum on biotech trade?

On World Health Day, we explore links between human health, the climate crisis, and equity—and the role for biotech. Following last week’s trade policy hearings, we see momentum to address biotech issues in Mexico and the EU. (712 words, 3 minutes, 33 seconds)

World Health Day highlights climate crisis, equity

The climate crisis is the “single biggest health threat facing humanity,” says the World Health Organization (WHO) on World Health Day, with the theme Our Planet, Our Health. Here's how biotech can provide prescriptions for the problem.

By the numbers: “WHO estimates that more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes.” The WHO’s Air Quality Database, released Monday, shows 99% of people in the world breathe air that does not meet WHO standards.

“A heating world is seeing mosquitos spread diseases farther and faster than ever before,”continues WHO. “Extreme weather events, land degradation and water scarcity are displacing people and affecting their health.”

This is why we need a One Health approach, which recognizes the need to take a unified approach to the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems to stop disease outbreaks.

Biotech can address all sides of the crisis—from low-carbon or even zero-carbon fuels, to gene-edited crops that can help farmers and families thrive as temperatures rise, to name a few. 

We also need to focus on health equity—something BIO and our members are working on through the BIOEquality Agenda and initiatives to improve clinical trial diversity and access to innovation.

Quoteworthy: “Quite often we think about innovation with respect to perhaps rare or severe diseases, but actually innovation is a tool that we can use to really close the gaps that we have, from a health equity perspective,” Alnylam CEO Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet told us in an exclusive interview.

Ready to commit to climate action? The National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM’s) Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector (Climate Collaborative) is a public-private partnership of health sector leaders committed to addressing the sector’s environmental impact and strengthening its sustainability and resilience—learn more and apply to join.

New momentum on biotech trade in Mexico, EU

Following hearings last week on the Biden administration’s trade policy agenda—which covered critical biotech issues in Mexico and the EU—we see renewed momentum to address them, and a few opportunities.

The news: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his Mexican counterpart Victor Villalobos to discuss “shared priorities including open trade, science-based policy making, and sustainable and climate-smart agricultural production,” per USDA.

As our readers know, Mexico has failed to maintain a science-based regulatory system for agricultural biotechnology.

So, what happened at the meeting? Secretary Vilsack made “a case for approving biotech crop traits,” Agri-Pulse reported. “In a ‘very frank discussion’ about the biotech issue, Vilsack said he pressed the importance of biotechnology to agricultural productivity.”

This builds upon the momentum from last week’s trade hearings, during which U.S. Trade Rep. Ambassador Katherine Tai said USTR and USDA are collaborating to pursue a strategy of “cooperation and consultation with our counterparts in Mexico.”

Meanwhile, there are signs of opportunity in Europe: “The EU issued 12 approvals and six renewals for genetically-engineered crops in 2021, compared to one approval in 2020,” says POLITICO, reporting on USTR’s 2022 National Trade Estimate on Foreign Trade Barriers.

EU farmers are “set to buy more genetically modified animal feed from the U.S. and South America,” as a result of the war in Ukraine cutting off supply, reports Bloomberg.

More Agriculture and Environment News:

Senate Ag Committee: Senators Stabenow, Boozman Call on President Biden to Fill Vacancies Important to Agricultural Trade
"U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ranking Member, are encouraging President Joe Biden to quickly fill vacancies that can help increase trade opportunities for American agriculture."

USDA: APHIS celebrates 50 years
“On April 2, 1972, USDA created the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to bring together several functions focused on protecting the health and welfare of the Nation’s animals and plants. While both APHIS and the world have changed a lot over the past half decade years, the agency’s key mission remains the same today: safeguarding the health of American agriculture and natural resources.”

President Biden’s Thursday: ICYMI, former President Obama appeared with President Biden yesterday to mark the 12th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act—here's what happened, from the AP.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: We could see some big votes in the Senate today, including a vote on the House-passed bill to ban Russian oil imports as well as the vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.