A/HRC/45/12 evaluation of the necessity of precautionary measures such as testing, lockdowns and restrictions. Misinformation, the silencing of public health experts, opaque decisionmaking, and policy driven by politics and profit rather than science have proven catastrophic. The importance of public confidence in leadership during any crisis is crucial, and sorely lacking in so many States at present. 94. For years, the Special Rapporteur has, in chorus with medical and public health experts, been warning the international community of another public health crisis – a silent pandemic – linked to chronic exposure to toxic chemicals, pollutants and other hazardous substances. Such exposure, as early as in the womb, results in diverse and nuanced adverse health impacts that often go unrecognized or underappreciated by victims, policymakers, justice systems and society at large, as the effects are latent. 95. States that responded well to COVID-19 illustrate, in many ways, what can be done to protect public health from hazardous substances. However, it cannot be ignored that many States have failed in their duty to prevent exposure to the virus, and that this failure is similar to the failure to prevent exposure to pollutants, toxic chemicals, pesticides and other hazardous substances, which kill over 12 million people, nearly 2 million children below the age of 5, every year. Parallels may be drawn with the plight of over 160 million workers who develop preventable diseases and disabilities from exposure to hazardous substances at work, which cause approximately one worker death every 30 seconds. States should recognize that the efforts made in a handful of countries to protect against COVID-19, and thereby save perhaps millions of lives, can also be made in the context of other hazardous substances that are resulting in widespread, systemic and discriminatory violations of the rights of vulnerable groups around the world. 96. Everyone is essential, and everyone has a right to be protected from exposure to hazardous substances. Patterns of discrimination and inequalities are barriers to human dignity and development. Underlying structural inequalities and pervasive discrimination must be addressed in the response to and aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, to build back better, guided by the principles of equality, dignity and accountability and international human rights standards. 97. The Special Rapporteur recommends that States: (a) Recognize their obligation to prevent exposure to hazardous substances, including zoonotic viruses, as part of their obligation to protect human rights, including the rights to life, health and bodily integrity; (b) Reform the manner in which projections of economic impacts are considered in the face of public health and environmental concerns, such as zoonotic diseases, to ensure that a rights-based approach is applied; (c) Identify and prioritize the protection of all vulnerable groups from exposure to viruses and other hazardous substances; (d) Recognize that environmental injustice and systemic discrimination contribute to underlying health conditions, and ensure that socioeconomic mapping of rates of infection and death among vulnerable groups includes environmental and occupational exposures to hazardous substances in addition to other criteria such as income and race; (e) Ensure that the right to safe and healthy work is constitutionally protected, and ratify all occupational safety and health conventions of the International Labour Organization; (f) Implement the principles on human rights and the protection of workers from exposure to hazardous substances, 84 as encouraged by the Human Rights 84 A/HRC/42/41. 21