One Health can provide a safe, 'no judgment zone' for many needed conversations surrounding our most difficult global and environmental health challenges.
This is a webpage where many items can be shared, from peer reviewed scientific case studies to examples of One Health successes (or missed opportunities) to Op Eds and Opinion Pieces.
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily approved by the One Health Commission but are shared ‘because’ this is a safe, no judgement zone and we need to hear from many perspectives on many of today’s challenges. Thoughtful articles written in a professional tone will be considered for posting. Submit suggested items to ohc@onehealthcommission.org.
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Most “one health” advocates understand intuitively there are economic and public health benefits to approaching zoonotic disease occurrences as both a human and animal health issue. The World Bank has funded health projects that address zoonotic disease outbreaks and analyzed the economic costs and benefits of comprehensive and complementary strategies to reduce the incidence of selected zoonotic diseases. Their findings support the idea that integrated surveillance and control, community education, building laboratory capacity that supports both animal and human diagnosis, and cross training and collaboration of community-based health workers, improve public health outcomes.
Infectious diseases, especially those that have been controlled in countries with advanced economies but continue to threaten developing countries, pose a particularly difficult challenge in many areas of the world. Zoonotic diseases, infectious illnesses that originate in animals but are also transmissible to humans, are the sources of many infectious disease outbreaks among humans.
This pilot study conducted at a medical school was designed to assess physician aptitude in dealing with zoonotic diseases, physician habit in discussing environmental safety measures and hazards with their patients, and to assess physician perceptions on threats to human health. It highlighted the importance of collaboration with professions such as Veterinary Medicine, Disease Ecology and Conservation Biology, and introduced the concept of One Health. It is important to remember that One Health encompasses more than just disease (including many positive outcomes when using a One Health approach) and this study was specific as it was a pilot study in addition to an introduction to One Health.
Author: Dr. William B Karesh, Contributor, Executive Vice President for Health and Policy, EcoHealth Alliance, In: HuffPost
It’s hard to believe but I first posted the article that this is adapted from almost two years ago to the day. Little has changed other than Ebola drawing the world’s attention away from MERS until a new and significant outbreak erupted in east Asia three weeks ago after being introduced by a traveler returning from the Middle-East.
Possibly the most interesting aspect of the emergence of this new disease killing people in the Middle East, others who have traveled there and recently spreading in Korea, is that so many people are surprised. Expressions of angst from the international health community are understandable. The last time a novel coronavirus similar to this one (SARS) jumped into people and spread around the world, thousands were sickened, hundreds died, and billions of dollars of economic losses in trade and travel were incurred in a matter of months.
