Interview with the president of APECS
Interview of edition 11 with leaders of the sector to learn about experiences, work criteria and challenges of professional pest management.
Training is a necessary tool within the business strategy to achieve and maintain high levels of productivity, efficiency and excellence, which allow greater competitiveness within the market.
RICHARD RICKETS PRESIDENT OF APECS
1. From your point of view, what is the importance of the Integrated Urban Pest Management (IUPM) sector in society? According to the World Health Organization, vector-borne diseases represent 17% of the estimated global burden of infectious diseases and food-borne diseases have a significant negative impact on public health. In 2010, the 31 most important food-related infectious agents were defined as causing 600 million cases of FTAs and 420,000 deaths. Likewise, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) points out that between 20% and 40% of the world's potential agricultural production is lost as a result of the presence of pests, among other factors. This obviously leads to large economic losses and lack of food security. In this context, the IUPM in its broadest conception, constitutes a fundamental tool to contribute to the prevention and mitigation of damage to health, as well as to avoid economic losses, that is, in general terms to contribute to the well-being of the community in general. 2. From your perspective, how should integrated urban pest management be developed in our country? The IUPM approach is preventive, which differentiates it from traditional pest control,
several aspects, including exclusion, sanitation, modification of behaviors that favor the presence of pests and of course, the use of toxicologically and environmentally safe products.
and is based on scientific and technological progress, of course always with a framework of respect for the environment. To be efficient, IUPM programs must basically be based on the analysis of the conditions that favor the presence of pests and their management to modify them, following the maxim "as long as the conditions that favor the presence of pests are not modified, they will always be present. That is, the prevention or mitigation of an infestation that is due to multiple factors must also be addressed from
3. What role should the association play in the development of the integrated urban pest management field in our country? An updated and competent Association must be an integrating entity, which fundamentally seeks legitimacy to represent the voice of the associates, having clear clarity about the need to professionalize the field, so that we meet the demands of society, even more so in this circumstance of health crisis that we are experiencing. The association is also a space for the convergence of technically authorized voices, who can collaborate purposefully with the state, on issues related to the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases, food-borne diseases and the prevention of large economic losses linked to coexistence with pests. 4. How do you see the future of the sector in our country? Some internal or external factors have favored the development of the sector. We are a megadiverse country, considering the 11 ecoregions that Antonio Brack Egg identified. This also entails the presence of a wide range of species adapted to the human environment, which have always caused us problems. On the other hand, the jump of species not typical of man towards him, as is the case of SARS CoV 2, has generated new sanitary conditions for the prevention of Covid 19, increasing the demand for disinfection services for environments and surfaces that will probably be maintained to some extent in the future. On the other hand, until before the pandemic, sustained economic growth of the
Recent decades has generated a demand for services in continuous growth. A new normal from the recurrent use of vaccines should once again generate the need for our services in currently depressed economic sectors. 5. What should be the role of private companies, academia and the public sector in the integrated management of urban pests? They must be integrated, since they are the perfect triad that generates knowledge. The scientific knowledge and technology that is innovated as a consequence allow a better approach to the dynamic world of integrated urban pest management, with a positive impact, above all, on the well-being of the community. The sum of efforts of these different spaces enables more timely, precise and advantageous progress.