News

Lest we forget... *https://onehealthinitiative.com/a-perspective-some-significant-historic-inspirations-for-advancing-the-one-medicine-one-health-concept-movement-19th-20th-and-21st-centuries/

 

The following is an opinion commentary piece – Note: the OHI team welcomes
suitable comments, pro or con, relative thereto for posting(s) consideration
on the OHI website from national and/or international recognized, reputable 
'One Medicine - One Health' individuals, groups, organizations, educational or 
governmental institutions etc. Please feel free to contact us via email(s) at
kkm@onehealthinitiative.com.

Arguably, the major 21st century’s U.S. and worldwide landmark impetus and re-awakening for the rekindled “One Medicine-One Health” movement was the ...

American Veterinary Medical Association One Health: A New Professional Imperative One Health Initiative Task Force : Final Report July 15, 2008

https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/resources/onehealth_final.pdf

“The challenges and obligations of health professionals have never been tested as we are today to truly reestablish our social responsibility.”

Preface and Acknowledgments

It has been a special privilege to serve as the Chair of the One Health Initiative Task Force (OHITF). The concept of One Health is not new and perhaps has even enjoyed stronger endorsement and support in past decades prior to the advent of clinical specialization in human and veterinary medicine. Achieving the end point of One Health is truly one of the critical challenges facing humankind today.

The Task Force is acutely aware of the heroes of the past such as William Osler and Rudolf Virchow, the Father of Comparative Pathology. Even the seminal scientific work of both Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch demonstrated the importance of comparative medicine and biomedical research. Both were early practitioners of One Health and their findings represented enormous medical breakthroughs of the 19th century. We also remember the early efforts of Rachel Carson(1), who raised an awakening of an entire generation to environmental issues, leading to an appreciation of the health of the environment as an integral component to the One Health concept.

**Pioneers in this field include former Assistant Surgeon General James Steele, who epitomizes One Health. Dr. Steele organized and developed the first Veterinary Public Health program with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the 1940s, and was responsible for the official inclusion of veterinarians into the US Public Health Service, beginning in 1947. It was the groundbreaking work of Dr. Steele, partnering with physicians and other health professionals, which led to rapid advances in the control and prevention of zoonotic diseases both in the US and internationally.

However, for me personally, and for many members of the Task Force, we fondly remember the pioneering and visionary efforts of **Dr. Calvin Schwabe. We were influenced and “converted” to One Health by Dr. Schwabe, who spent a lifetime practicing and teaching the principles of One Health. The Task Force members wish to honor Dr. Schwabe by dedicating this report to him.

Acknowledgments
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), and this Task Force in particular, have been well served by committed volunteers who give their time and energy to work on important issues to improve and advance the veterinary profession. The American Medical Association (AMA) and American Public Health Association (APHA), as well as other professional organizations, operate similarly and are also dependent on volunteers. I commend these dedicated professionals and salute them for their hard work and aspirations to make a difference in the lives of the people and animals that we serve.

I am especially appreciative and thank my fellow task force members. The OHITF members have added remarkable insights, wisdom, and intellect into this report and to our deliberations. The group has formed a strong camaraderie and has enthusiastically devoted themselves to the cause of One Health today and for the future.

In addition, the AVMA is fortunate to have a talented, energetic, and superb staff. The entire Task Force wishes to both acknowledge and thank Drs. Lynne White-Shim, Heather Case, Elizabeth Curry-Galvin, and Ms. Ellen Pietka, all of whom gave tirelessly to supporting our Task Force and this project. Other staff members, including Dr. Janis Audin, J.B. Hancock, and Sharon Curtis Granskog, have also added real value to our work. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Roger Mahr, who championed the One Health concept and greatly helped elevate it as part of the AVMA’s agenda.

Lonnie King, DVM, MS, MPA, DACVPM Chair, OHITF

Appendix A Task Force Members

         Dr. Lonnie J. King, Chair Director, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne, and Enteric Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://vet.osu.edu/king-lonnie-j

Larry R. Anderson, DVM, MD Representing American Medical Association Family Practitioner, Family Care Center, Wellington, KS
Carina G. Blackmore, DVM, PhD State Public Health Veterinarian, State Environmental Epidemiologist, Office of Environmental Public Health Medicine, Florida Department of Health
Michael J. Blackwell, DVM, MPH President & CEO, Blackwell Consulting LLC
Elizabeth A. Lautner, DVM, MS Director, National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Veterinary Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture
Leonard C. Marcus, VMD, MD Private practice (retired), Traveler’s Health & Immunization Services Clinical Professor, Department of Environmental and Population Health, Cummings School Of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
Travis E. Meyer Medical Student, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University
Thomas P. Monath, MD Partner; Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, Byers; Pandemic and Biodefense Fund [currently Managing Partner and Chief Scientific Officer Crozet BioPharma www.crozetbiopharma.com and co-founder One Health Initiative team & OHI website]
James E. Nave, DVM Owner, Tropicana Animal Hospital Globalization Agent, American Veterinary Medical Association Councillor, World Veterinary Association
Joerg Ohle President and General Manager, Bayer Animal Health, North America
Marguerite Pappaioanou, DVM, MPVM, PhD, DACVPM Executive Director, Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges One Health — a New Professional Imperative 30
Justin Sobota, MS Representing Student AVMA President, Student American Veterinary Medical Association Veterinary Medical Student, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida
William S. Stokes, DVM, DACLAM Rear Admiral, US Public Health Service Assistant Surgeon General Director, National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health LIAISONS
*Ronald M. Davis, MD Representing the American Medical Association Liaison President, American Medical Association
Jay H. Glasser, PhD Representing the American Public Health Association Liaison Past President, American Public Health Association
Roger K. Mahr, DVM Representing the Executive Board Liaison Immediate Past-President, American Veterinary Medical Association

The One Health Commission (OHC) www.onehealthcommission.org evolved from this endeavor and on June 9, 2009 was officially chartered in Washington, D.C. as a 501(c)3, non-profit organization with eight founding institutional members and continues to date.

 Photo by Joseph L. Murphy, MD

Important “One Health” 21st-century History:

June 2007- American Medical Association Meeting during “One Health” resolution
testimony. Historic resolution subsequently adopted http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/AMA%20%5C'One%20Health%5C'%20Resolution.pdf.

Left to right: *Ronald M. Davis, MD, President AMA, Roger K. Mahr, DVM, President, American Veterinary Medical Association and Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP of Princeton University.

The AMA “One Health” resolution was originally drafted by Dr. Kahn under Dr. Davis’s guidance. Thomas P. Monath, MD and Bruce Kaplan, DVM assisted. The historic “One Health” liaison between AVMA and AMA [in effect today] was fostered by collaboration between Drs. Mahr and Davis.

*Deceased

_____Editor’s observation (Having been in telephone and email communication before and during the Chicago, Il AMA convention, talking with AMA President Dr. Davis—and in numerous telephone conversations with Dr. Steele, who was notably using the phrase “One Medicine-One Health-One World” in our private discussions in the mid-1990s): Ergo,**background history of Drs. Schwabe’s and Steele’s written/oral influence likely constitutes a compelling case for where, how from and why the term “One Health” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21706464/; https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/12/11-0484 was subsequently used within the adopted momentous AMA “One Health” resolution text. Indeed, Schwabe’s milestone book entitled “Veterinary Medicine and Human Health” included three editions (1964, 1967, and 1984). Each edition progressively expanded insight into the realization that implicitly, a “One Medicine-One Health” approach was inherent and essential towards the advancement of human, animal and environmental health and wellbeing. Two highlighted primary aspects explored and considered, in actuality during the 1940s, 1950s and long before, were having crucial visionary impacts for global public health and comparative medicine research endeavors via transdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary collaborations and endeavors, i.e. a One Health approach__________