Letter to EU Commissioner Markos Kyprianou
EUROPEAN COMMISSIONDG Health and Consumer Protection
Commissioner Markos Kyprianou
B-1049 BRUSSELS
Date: October 27th 2005
Place:
Dear Mr. Kyprianou,
With this letter we want to implore you to change the current EU policy of non-vaccination for animal diseases as Avian Influenza (AI). It is imperative that, rather sooner than later, the vast and often disastrous consequences of non vaccination, start leading us in the direction of a better, and more humane alternative: a general vaccination policy.
However, apart from the economical aspects, the consequences of this policy in other areas are devastating and affect society as a whole:
1. It endangers public health; the risk of a pandemic as a consequence of AI is what one would call a ‘hot topic’ at the moment.
2. More and more people are scared of eating poultry meat and eggs, afraid of the dangerous H5N1 virus. They don’t trust the products of non-vaccinated poultry. So the non-vaccination policy may eventually lead to the eradication of the poultry industry.
(Toegevoegd door Hans Meyer, Drentse Hoen Club)
3. It leads to useless culling/killing of perfectly healthy animals; the AI (H7N7) outbreak in Holland in 2003, and the AI outbreak of H5N1 spreading from Asia to Kazakhstan, Rumania, Turkey and Russia are gruesome, though illustrative examples.
4. The emotional consequences of culling/killing for farmers, smallholders and their families cannot be expressed in terms of money and, if at all, compensation; the general feeling of injustice and moral conflict will not subside, because these useless killing can, and therefore must be prevented!
5. Keeping animals contributes to a wholesome community. Research has pointed out that keeping animals, and taking care of them, makes people feel better. Keeping animals therefore ought to be an enjoyment and not a hazardous operation, with all kinds of gruesome risks to consider.
All in all, in our opinion only one conclusion can be justified: to do justice to our (European) age-long tradition of civilisation, tolerance and democracy, the EU now has to put aside the opposition to vaccination. Vaccines are a result of scientific progress and it is hard to explain why no use is made of these scientific results. Moreover all poultry and waterfowl are vaccinated against the New Castle Disease (NCD) annually. Absolutely no valid reasons exist not to vaccinate poultry against Avian Influenza. Because, let us be fair: what is the justification of killing healthy animals? And above all what justification is there for endangering public health?
The EU must work together now to solve the problems of exporting vaccinated products intracommunautairily and internationally. Vaccinated products are indeed safe. That is in fact common knowledge. Animals are already vaccinated for all kinds of diseases and we even import products of animals that are vaccinated for FMD.
This and the scientific progress in the production and administration of vaccines render vaccination the best way to eradicate and to control animal diseases. This especially is the case where it concerns Avian Influenza, more outbreaks of which are reported worldwide every day.
Now is the time for the European Union to show what is in fact the worth and added value of being a union to all her inhabitants.
Sincerely,
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