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

The International Veterinary Students' Association (IVSA), Standing Committee on One Health (SCOH) have just launched a new page created by students for the benefit of all. This is the latest in initiative by the committee to better disseminate information. Toolkit, journals and much more can be found on the website. If you have any ideas on how to better it, please feel free to contact IVSA or SCOH through the Facebook page, as One Health is an ever evolving movement so will the new website.

Link to website for the Standing Committee on One Health

Link to website for International Veterinary Students' Association

Excerpt: "Southeast Asia is recognized as a hotspot for new viruses—it’s where virus hunters go to figure out what to put in next year’s flu vaccines. O’Leary says that Vietnam’s large population of domestic ducks, chickens, and pigs makes the country particularly vulnerable. “There’s a lot of potential contact with human populations,” he says. And then there’s the continued impact of human activity on forests. “The forests have been extensively logged, and so the opportunities for wildlife, for instance, to come into contact with domestic animals and into contact with humans are great,” he says.

Public health leaders in Vietnam are well aware that the country is a breeding ground for new diseases. And they’re sold on One Health, both for Vietnam itself and for global health security. “Diseases used to be enclosed in certain regions or countries,” says Dr. Tran Dac Phu, head of the Ministry of Health’s Preventive Health Department. “Now globalization has made them easier to spread.” In 2003, Vietnam was the second country to report a case of SARS, a disease that whipped up waves of panic as it threatened to spread around the world. It was also the first country to contain the outbreak."

Pioneers of the One Health movement to blend human, veterinary and environmental health are gaining respect, epidemic by epidemic, but capturing the attention of the human health care establishment remains a challenge.

“You have to take the long view,” acknowledged Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, of the One Health Initiative team. “It took people over a century to realize the significance of basic sanitation, and lots of countries don’t even have that.”

"One Health evolved from the recognition that an interdisciplinary approach is required to understand complex health problems, and that the health of humans and animals are inextricably linked. Through closer cooperation between the human, veterinary and environmental health sectors, added value, in terms of health metrics, cost savings and environmental services is achievable."

Kamani, T., Kazwala, R., Mfinanga, S., Haydon, D., Keyyu, J., Lankester, F., & Buza, J. (2015). One Health: a concept led by Africa, with global benefits:. Veterinary Record, 176(19), 496-497. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.h2461