News

Urgent call to action for all One Health supporters/advocates...

The One Health Initiative team urges you to consider:

1.       On March 22, 2018, Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN) introduced a bi-partisan bill, S.2615 “Advancing Emergency Preparedness Through One Health Act of 2018” which has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) for their review. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2615.  As you know “One Health” is a nonpartisan issue.

2.       S.2615 will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the U.S. Government’s response to (disease) emergencies by requiring the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) to do more than just coordinate but actively collaborate among themselves and other relevant Departments and Agencies to develop and implement a federal One Health Framework. Human health, animal health and environmental health are inextricably linked and a One Health approach is the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally and globally to address issues of mutual concern, such as: emergency preparedness for disease outbreaks.

3.       The One Health Framework in S.2615 would:

·        Advance workforce development related to prevention of and response to disease outbreaks in animals and humans.

·        Improve coordination between federal agencies who study human and animal health and the environment.

·        Advance scientific understanding of the connections between human, animal, and environmental health.

4.       Please share S.2615 with your Senators to be sure they are aware of this bill and encourage their support.  If your Senator is a Member of the HELP Committee (https://www.help.senate.gov/), please encourage their support for S.2615 and request that this bill be granted full attention by the Committee, with hearings, mark-up and reporting that will garner majority support to move forward.  Thank you!!

Please click here to see the U.S. Senators https://www.help.senate.gov/about/members that we need to contact ASAP...

The Majority Chair and Minority Chair are shown below:

Chairman

Senator Lamar Alexander(Republican - TN) Official Website »

Ranking Member

Senator Patty Murray(Democratic - WA) Official Website »

5.       Please let your Representatives know about S.2615 so they understand the benefits of this bill and that a companion bill will soon be introduced in the House. 

Thank you!!