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One Health Initiative Team and Advisory Board Urge United States Secretaries of Departments: Health and Human Services and Homeland Security to Help Provide Funding for “One Health” Institute of Medicine (IOM) Study/Report     The attached letter [PDF] was mailed to the U.S. Secretaries Kathleen Sebelius (Department of Health and Human Services) and Janet Napolitano (Department of Homeland Security) on Monday, April 25, 2011.  Secretaries Sebelius and Napolitano are former governors of their respective states, Kansas and Arizona.    It was co-signed by the Dean of the Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary medicine, Dr. Ralph Richardson, a notable veterinarian and the eminent and internationally known medical virologist, Dr. Tom Monath, a physician and member of the One Health Initiative (OHI) Autonomous pro bono team.    In a preliminary notice to fellow honorary advisory board members regarding the mailing of the letter, Dr. Richardson said, “I am e-mailing an advance copy to Dr. Alex Garza [MD, MPH], Secretary Napolitano’s Assistant Secretary and Chief Medical Officer as well as to Dr. Doug Meckes [DVM], a veterinarian in Secretary Napolitano’s office [Food, Agriculture and Veterinary Defense Division, Office of Health Affairs].  I hope that it generates renewed interest in the One Health efforts.  Secretary Napolitano and Dr. Garza both visited Kansas City last year and expressed strong support for the interactions of the various disciplines.  Secretary Sebelius is former Governor of Kansas and one of the first things that she did after being appointed Secretary of DHHS was to, jointly with Secretary Napolitano, reaffirm their support for building the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, KS.  My hope is that, with their understanding of the One Health Initiative, that they will push for the IOM/NRC study.”   Most One Health supporters/advocates believe that having such a prestigious comprehensive One Health study/report will help verify the critical need for implementing the concept in the U.S. and worldwide.  Once definitive parameters are established and documented by such a published study/report, more rapid recognition and institutionalization is expected.    Funding costs for convening and conducting a study is estimated at approximately $1.2 million.  *Such a relatively small investment should actually help reduce future research expenditures and duplication of services by encouraging more co-equal interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary collaborations.  Moreover, expedited One Health scientific research discoveries “ … will help protect and/or save untold millions of lives in our generation and for those to come.”  Some available examples in the 20th and early 21st centuries are documented in the OHI website News and Publications pages.        *See previous white paper from the National Academies of Sciences (USA) “A New Biology for the 21st Century” www.nap.edu/catalog/12764.html proposing values of a multi-disciplinary approach. Then think about having a “One Health” white paper conducted, published and widely distributed.   “In July, 2008, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and Department of Energy (DOE) asked the National Research Council’s Board on Life Sciences to convene a committee to examine the current state of biological research in the United States and recommend how best to capitalize on recent technological and scientific advances that have allowed biologists to integrate biological research findings, collect and interpret vastly increased amounts of data, and predict the behavior of complex biological systems.” …