ENV’s Latest PSA Encourages Vietnamese Public to Take Action to Ensure Another Pandemic is NEVER AGAIN Possible
Today, Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) releases its second “Never Again” Public Service Announcement (PSA). The film portrays life in Vietnam during the Covid-19 shutdown, and encourages the public to take action to ensure another pandemic is never again possible.
The PSA begins with familiar scenes during the 2020 pandemic of an eerily empty city, quickly building in speed and intensity – similar to the pandemic itself. Almost a year since the origin of the destructive coronavirus, the world is still reeling from the catastrophic effects. More than one million people have already lost their lives, the global economy has been severely impacted, and governments have spent trillions of dollars working to contain and eliminate the virus.
Covid-19 may be the latest deadly disease originating from wildlife, but it’s not unprecedented. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, about 70% of all infectious diseases over the last 30 years have been zoonotic, including HIV/AIDS, avian influenza, swine flu, SARS, Ebola, MERS, and now Covid-19.[1] At this rate, we are bound to see more zoonotic outbreaks within our lifetime, unless we change now.
[1] https://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D14089.PDF
“The government of Vietnam has responded remarkably to the outbreak, not only in protecting the public from large-scale contagion, but also declaring stronger action to fight Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade,” says Nguyen Phuong Dung, ENV’s Vice Director.
However, Dung warns, “While life may appear to have returned to normality in Vietnam, it is important that we do not forget the serious threat that Covid-19 and other viral diseases from animals pose to our health and safety, as well as the substantial economic losses we have faced from closure of businesses and fighting the pandemic.”
ENV’s “Never Again” PSA is part of ENV’s “Never Again” campaign, launched in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. The campaign calls upon the public to take drastic measures to permanently eliminate consumption and trade of wildlife. Since the first Covid-19 Public Service Announcement (PSA) in April, ENV has broadcast “Never Again” messages on over 60 news channels, including major channels such as VTV1, VTV2, VTV3, and VTV6, as well as in residential and commercial building elevators, on buses and trains, and virally on social media.
