One Health Publications

Food safety is paramount. It underpins public health, economic prosperity, and global trade. Ensuring the safety of our food from farm to fork requires a collaborative and comprehensive approach. This is where the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) and the One Health approach come together.

The G7 meeting has just closed in Italy, but the One Health message, even though fully delivered in advance to the leaders by health experts from around the world, including those of the Rockefeller Foundation failed to fully come through

By *Claude Forthomme, BA, MA – Senior Editor and Richard Seifman, JD, MBA – Former World Bank Senior Health Advisor and U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer

in Health, Politics & Foreign Affairs

*Members Advisory Board – One Health Initiative

EUROPEAN UNION

The Cross-agency One Health task force has prepared a framework for action that will facilitate strategic coordination among the five EU agencies

“Bird flu poses a massive threat, and the potential for a catastrophic new pandemic is imminent. We still have a chance to stop a possible humanitarian disaster, but only if we get to work urgently, carefully and aggressively.

This will require a major collective shift in the way we approach infectious diseases management — one that embraces a “One Health” approach and prioritizes prevention of human infection before widespread infection happens, rather than responding rapidly once human cases become widespread.  …”

“The Kozhikode-based Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research, set up by the State government in 2023, is all set to be expanded as an international research institution.

The Kozhikode-based Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research, set up by the State government in 2023, is all set to be expanded as an international research institution.

According to sources, a detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared, and T.S. Anish, Additional Professor, Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Manjeri, has been appointed as the nodal officer. The One Health approach recognises the fact that human health is closely connected with the health of animals and the environment.

The centre is right now functioning at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode. It could be shifted to another location later. The land available with the Health department at Cherooppa near Mavoor is being considered. The facility was set up in Kozhikode against the backdrop of the recurring episodes of Nipah infection here, in 2018, 2021, and 2023. …”

From 3–7 June 2024, the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr. Milan Jovanovic Batut” hosted an intensive training module on One Health approaches to field epidemiology practice in MediPIET countries. The training aimed to introduce MediPIET fellows and external participants to the basic principles of One Health cross-sectoral collaboration and its role in field epidemiology.

“… HPW:  The strategy also discusses evolving risks like spillover events from animals to humans, climate change, urbanization. How is One Health informing the strategy? 

Psaki: This is a really important piece of the strategy. We’ve seen that a lot of emerging pathogens are zoonotic diseases. At a basic level, in terms of how we do the work, the strategy lists the roles of different departments and agencies across the US government, and it includes US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and others whose primary role is animal health. That’s making sure you have the right people at the table with the right expertise and that there’s a collaborative approach to not just identifying risks, but responding to risks.

If you take a look as well at the areas of partnership with the 50 countries, you’ll see that zoonotic disease is a common area partnership because this is something that has been identified by many other countries as well. So that includes collaboration with our traditional health departments and agencies like Health and Human Services (HHS) and USAID but it also includes technical support and assistance from USDA and some of those other parts of the government that have expertise in animal health and zoonotic disease. If you look across the departments and agencies, there’s a lot of focus on developing cohesive One Health strategies. So I know for example, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a One Health office and they’ve developed a strategy on One Health to make sure that their work is informed with that perspective. …”

08 June 2024

“JAKARTA – The One Health Concept (One Health) is advised to apply it in real terms to respond to the case of the first human death due to the Bird Flu (H5N2) disease.  …”

“… PIANZ [Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand]  said producers are the frontline force for early detection of HPAI. On a national level, the “One Health” initiative, spearheaded by the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC), seeks to promote food safety and security, which encompasses HPAI mitigation. PIANZ supports One Health as it prepares a rapid response plan for potential HPAI outbreaks.”

Is One Health really an agenda of only the Global North?  Panelists at an event last week, hosted by the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Global Health Center, think otherwise. They talked about how developing countries are putting One Health principles into practice to head off future disease outbreaks.

“One Health is critical to future prevention of outbreaks and pandemics, and wider application of One Health principles should be a common agenda of both the global North and South – even if negotiators continue to wrangle over its inclusion in the still-unfinished World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic agreement. …”

Abstract

The One Health approach calls for collaboration across various sectors and different scales to improve understanding of complex health issues. Regarding epidemiological surveillance, this implies the development of integrated systems that link several surveillance components operating in different domains (human, domestic animals, environment) and involving several actor networks. However, surveillance continues to operate in a very compartmentalized way, with little interaction between sectoral institutions and with the community for the governance and operation of surveillance activities. This is partly explained by the insufficient consideration of the local context and the late involvement of national stakeholders when developing programmes that aimed at strengthening the integration of surveillance. In low- and middle-income countries in particular, there is a strong influence of external partners on the development of intersectoral programmes, including surveillance systems. In this context, we developed and implemented a participatory planning process to support stakeholders of the surveillance system of anthrax in Burkina Faso, in the definition of the One Health surveillance system they wish for and of the pathway to reach it. The workshop produced an action plan that reflects the views and perspectives of representatives of the different categories of stakeholders and beneficiaries of surveillance. In addition, the participation of stakeholders in this participatory co-construction process has also improved their knowledge and mutual understanding, fostering a climate of trust conducive to further collaboration for surveillance activities. However, the quality of the participation raises some questions over the results, and contextual factors may have influenced the process. This underlines the need to include a monitoring and evaluation plan in the process to assess its implementation and ability to produce One Health surveillance modalities that are appropriate, accepted and applied over the long term.

The World Health Assembly just closed its doors with disappointing results: an effective prevention plan to address future pandemics requires full recognition of linkages between human health, animal and plant health, and environmental factors, i.e., the One Health approach

“The principle of resilience and survival is crucial for medically significant fungi. These microorganisms are far from creating the postapocalyptic scenario depicted in TV series like The Last of Us, and much work is necessary to learn more about them. Accurate statistics on fungal infections, accompanied by clinical histories, simple laboratory tests, new antifungals, and a necessary One Health approach are lacking. …”

” … One Health in Fungal Infections

The All Life Institute is a global think tank based in Washington D.C. that is uniquely dedicated to protecting and enhancing all life on this planet including humans, nonhumans and the Earth.

Provided by:

 *David O. Wiebers, M.D.

Emeritus Professor of Neurology

Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation

Chair, Board of Directors

All Life Institute

*Dr. Wiebers is a prominent One Health concept/approach advocate.   See Eminent National and Internationally Recognized Physician Neurologists Endorse One Health Approach for Brain Health – One Health Initiative

The Institute is “a global think tank based in Washington D.C. that is uniquely dedicated to protecting and enhancing all life on this planet including humans, nonhumans and the Earth.”

Three  fundamental  truths appear on the introductory page:

• “All that we do depends upon abundant plant and animal life as well as clean air and water.”
• “Our collective future depends upon the decisions that we are making now.”
• “What is good for nonhumans and the Earth is virtually always in the best interests of humans, given the profound interdependence of all life.”

Provided by:

*George Lueddeke, PhD MEd Dipl.AVOHS (Hon.)

*Member Advisory Board – One Health Initiative