News

1 NOVEMBER 2016   For Immediate Release

please See: http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/1%20NOVEMBER%202016%20%20%20For%20Immediate%20Release.pdf

 

Contact(s):  Peter Costa, +1 984 500 8593 (USA), pcosta@onehealthcommission.org

 

ONE HEALTH DAY CALLS FOR TRANS-DISCIPLINARY COLLABORATIONS TO IMPROVE GLOBAL HEALTH

                   Over 110 events being celebrated around the world 

 

An evening of academic talks and public discussion in Finland, a One Health poster competition in the US, a One Health University Students Club meeting in Rwanda, an international symposium on food safety in Chile, and a One Health Awareness Week in Afghanistan... these are but five examples from over 100 global events in 35 countries across six continents being organized at the occasion of the first annual One Health Day on 3 November 2016.

One Health Day answers the urgent need for a One Health trans-disciplinary approach towards solving today’s critical global health challenges. It is a timely initiative that gives scientists and advocates a powerful voice for moving beyond current provincial approaches to emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, environmental pollution, and many other problems, to a holistic default way of doing business.

One Health Day was officially launched on 31 March 2016 by three leading international One Health groups, the One Health Commission, the One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono Team, and the One Health Platform Foundation. They called upon individuals and groups from around the world to implement One Health educational projects and awareness events under the auspices of One Health Day. Today, their joint call has generated an inspiring array of projects worldwide.

But equally important: this global partnership is growing into a sustainable platform for One Health supporters around the world. Regional One Health Day Spokespersons in Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas liaised with project teams in their respective regions, while a network of One Health Day Country Ambassadors worked within their countries to encourage creation of inspiring events. Student groups from all disciplines were given the option to compete for cash prizes and global recognition. And many participating teams have requested a translated version of the One Health Day logo, into French, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Greek and more. All promotional materials are freely downloadable from the One Health Day website.

“The amazing number of global events planned by scientists, health practitioners and students has really exceeded our expectations and demonstrates the great interest and need for health professions to work together. We are delighted to continue this initiative in the future”, said Dr. Cheryl Stroud, Executive Director of the One Health Commission.

One Health Day 2016 is warmly dedicated to the memory of Jack Woodall, PhD, One Health Day Planning Team Leader, Co-Founder and Associate Editor of ProMED-mail and a member of the One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono team.  Dr. Woodall died 24 October 2016 of pancreatic cancer. His vision, energy and leadership will be sorely missed.

Additional information and an entire list of participating events is available online at www.onehealthday.org

 

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 About One Health

One Health is a movement to forge co-equal, all-inclusive collaborations, in both research and applied sciences, between human and animal health arenas, chemical, engineering and social scientists, dentists, nurses, agriculturalists and food producers, wildlife and environmental health specialists and many other related disciplines, assembled under the One Health umbrella. As early as 2010 the World Bank recognized and published documentary evidence supporting benefits of a One Health approach in disease prevention, public health and global security. Today, the One Health approach is being increasingly accepted by numerous major international organizations such as the World Medical Association (WMA), the World Veterinary Association (WVA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Other supporting organizations can be found at http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/supporters.php