One Health Movement News / One Health Topics 'in' the News

The One Health Awareness Month Campaign was launched December 31, 2019 on Facebook by the One Health Commission and Louisiana One Health in Action.   It was conceived in response to U.S. Senate Resolution S. 462 declaring January 2020 to be U.S. National One Health Awareness Month. (See more background) 

Help raise awareness about the critical power of and urgent need for One Health! Each year during the month of January join the One Health Commission,  Louisiana One Health in Action and One Health Lessons in leading the annual One Health Awareness Month campaigns via social media and innovative outreach.

Community involvement, guidance, and leadership is crucial for taking equity-focused One Health approaches to our work. However, not many researchers and practitioners know how to actually do this work. Therefore, this competition will get you to reflect on the importance of community engagement, its applicability to the field of One Health, and how work at the intersection of animal-human-environment health can be complimentary.

Author:  Michelle Power     In: The Conversation

To combat antibiotic resistance, we need to use "One Health"—an approach to public health that recognizes the interconnectedness of people, animals and the environment. ….And this week's appointment of federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley to the world's first One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, brings me confidence we're finally heading in the right direction.

A One Health High-Level Expert Panel, initiated by the French government with the support of the German government, was launched on 12 November 2020 at the Paris Peace Forum. What is the aim?

Presentation of the work of the Alliance for Multilateralism,  The One Health High-Level Expert Council and the Fight against Infodemics.
 

The world has lost a tremendous One Health Champion. LIsa was a vital part of the One Health Initiative pro bono team through which she also served as a member of the One Health Commission's Council of Advisors.

Athor:  John Drake   In: Forbes Magazine

This interconnectedness of the health of people, animals, and the environment is known as one health. But, one health is more than the acknowledgement of a fact.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has an established record of collaborative One Health research in Africa and Southeast Asia.  To mark One Health Day coming up next week on 3 November, we bring you highlights of some One Health research initiatives by ILRI and partners.

• Ecosystem approaches to the better management of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases in Southeast Asia
• One Health Regional Network for the Horn of Africa
• One Health Research, Education and Outreach Centre in Africa
• One Health Units for Humans, Environment, Animals and Livelihoods (HEAL)

This framework was developed through an interactive, consultative process with African Union (AU) Member States, experts in One Health and zoonotic diseases, international organizations and other Africa CDC partners. An initial Technical Working Group (TWG) was convened by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to oversee the development of the initial draft and subsequent revisions. The TWG included experts from Africa CDC, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), Chatham House and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). To inform the framework development, the TWG reviewed published One Health plans and reports developed by Member States and synthesized common themes, as well as referencing available One Health global guidance. The resulting framework is the product of extensive work by the TWG, whose role and dedication in its creation is deeply appreciated.

At a UN summit in September 2020, more than 70 world leaders (not including the US, China or Brazil ) signed the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature, promising to clamp down on pollution, eliminate the dumping of plastic waste and strengthen environmental agreements worldwide. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed noted at the event, to “rescue the planet’s fragile tapestry of life, we need vastly more ambition and action”. (Excerpts from the pledge)

3.We will re-double our efforts to end traditional silo thinking and to address the interrelated and interdependent challenges of biodiversity loss, land, freshwater and ocean degradation, deforestation, desertification, pollution and climate change in an integrated and coherent way, ensuring accountability and robust and effective review mechanisms, and lead by example through actions in our own countries.

8.We commit to integrating a “One-Health” approach in all relevant policies and decision-making processes at all levels that addresses health and environmental sustainability in an integrated fashion.

Dr Muhammad Pate, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group emphasized utilization of a “One Health approach” in his comments. In this video see approximately: minutes 28:15 – 29:30  and  33:05 – 33:15.

The One Health Commission (OHC) and the One Health European Joint Programme (OHEJP), in partnership with the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak and Response Network (WHO-GOARN) launched a collaborative project to describe the contributions of the diverse One Health workforce to the COVID-19 pandemic and the connection of One Health networks (OHNs) to workforce response activities. The survey will remain open until August 14, 2020. Results will expand the understanding of the value of a OH approach and the role of OHNs and will be utilized to develop targeted interventions to improve workforce capacity for public health response to COVID-19 and future pandemics. For more details see the Participant Information Sheet.

Take the survey.

Produced by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), this report highlights the environmental side of the zoonotic dimension of  the COVID-19 pandemic.  Examining the root causes of this pandemic and other zoonoses, it fills a critical knowledge gap and provides policymakers with a better understanding of the context and nature of potential future zoonotic disease outbreaks. The report recommends the need for a One Health approach.

The concept of One Health provides a useful framework for examining complex health issues such as food safety and security, emerging and vector-borne diseases, and antimicrobial resistance. It can be used to analyze government policies to determine if they are effective in improving health and well-being.

"The increasing evidence supporting M. orygis endemicity in south Asia and the identification of M. tuberculosis in cattle highlight the importance of using a One Health approach, involving multisectoral collaboration across the veterinary and clinical sectors, to meet the WHO's goal in India."

One Health Practitioner Podcast with Dani Kilani

What it means to be a One Health Practitioner, and the drivers of One Health acceptance and awareness.

Author: Bruce Kaplan    Post on the One Health Initiative website

The COVID-19 global pandemic has punctuated the need for taking an integrated One Health approach to fostering and protecting human health and wellbeing.

In the U.S. last year a bipartisan bill, the One Health Act of 2019, was introduced into both chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House. https://tinyurl.com/yyn8b8vj     Adtalem Global Education recently produced an informational video about the Bill that reveals the nature and the urgency of passing the legislation.  The [U.S.] government has FEMA to handle natural disasters, posits Congressman Schrader; why not have a One Health apparatus to handle public health disasters? View the video  https://tinyurl.com/ycb9aj8r

@Cracking One Health is a podcast series led by Dr. Sara Perestrello to connect humans, animals and the environment

The Australian-born veterinarian founded the World Small Animal Veterinary Association One Health Committee and now has a scholarship named in his honor.

The University of Edinburgh will work with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Merchants Group, and the Hainan government to help the province of Hainan establish a strong One Health force, through research, education and global reach.

Author: Christoph May  On:  World Animal Protection Website      (Open in Chrome for English translation)

"A message from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) holds hope in these dark times: German development aid is to be given a new focus that could benefit millions of animals in emerging and developing countries. The key word is "One Health", the ministry wants to set up a separate unit for this.  "The corona crisis makes it unmistakably clear what we risk if nothing changes in our dealings with the animals. Now it is time to bring sustainable solutions for a healthy coexistence of humans and animals on the way. “   Daniela Schrudde, head of animal protection work, world animal protection society

Reaching to the Global One Health Community for volunteers to serve in the pandemic response.

A One Health approach encourages collaborative efforts of experts working across the human, animal, and environmental health to improve the health of people and animals, including pets, livestock, and wildlife.

“One Health integrates knowledge from several different spheres, including human health, animal health, environmental health and agricultural businesses. The approach is gaining traction among academics, government officials and international policymakers as the best way to approach complex problems such as emerging zoonotic diseases. But we need to do more to integrate this approach into how we prepare for viruses like the newly emerged coronavirus."    Dr. Greg Gray

Washington, DC., USA

CORE Group’s One Health Interest Group supports coordination, communication, and collaboration for strengthened community engagement across human, animal and environment sectors before, during and after outbreaks.

Salzburg Global Seminar Newsletter post

“All bets are off. It’s time for every diagnostician, whether in human or wildlife or agricultural species, to strip away those preconceptions and then go that extra step and think, what if this is something new?”

“If you don’t start funding the wildlife sector and making it possible to do wildlife disease surveillance, then we may as well all just close up shop and go home because nothing will change.”   Tracy McNamara

The new coronavirus has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization, as the outbreak continues to spread outside China.

"The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

These One Health educational events for US lawmakers and their staff, one for the House and one for the Senate, were sponsored by the Veterinary Caucus, the Public Health Caucus, AVMA, AAVMC, the One Health Commission and a coalition of over 70 organizational U.S. One Health partners.

 One Health CertifiedTM, a comprehensive animal care program, establishes verified animal production practices in five core areas: disease prevention, veterinary care, responsible antibiotic use, animal welfare, and environmental impacts.