The One-Health approach prevents outbreaks of diseases in humans, animals and plants improving food safety and security and reducing antibiotic-resistant infections.
#OneHealth is a collaborative, multi-sectoral, and interdisciplinary approach, with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes by means of recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. The One-Health approach supports global health security by improving coordination, collaboration and communication at the human-animal-environment interface to address shared health threats such as zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and others. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) first introduced the term “One World-One Health” in 2007 along with 12 recommendations (the Manhattan Principles) that focused on establishing a more holistic approach to preventing epidemic disease and maintaining ecosystem integrity.
ECI is tremendously concerned with the public health issues in an era where our land, air and water resources are getting polluted indiscriminately with hazardous chemicals, untreated municipal waste and smoke emitted out of the transport sector, industrial units, real estate activities constantly hampering ecosystem services because of rapid deforestation, melting of glaciers and unplanned urbanization. As a result, global warming and climate change have become a challenge to be resolved by the humanity. Amidst of these challenges, public health both in our rural and urban settings has started to deteriorate at an unprecedented level. Because of this, a great proportion of the income earned by the people has to be spent on maintaining their health which is closely linked with the health of plants, animals and our shared environment that are already affected due to negative impacts of global warming and climate change.
To contribute meaningfully in maintaining public health as a framework of human and plant life, ECI is raising coordinated efforts to promote the approach of One-Health in collaboration with both the public and private sector organizations. Following are the main activities that are being undertaken to create an enabling environment for One-Health:
- Linking our efforts across multiple sectors and disciplines to coordinate the interdependence of human existence with nonhuman animals and within ecosystems.
- Leading our efforts to an ecological approach to the prevention and control of infectious diseases, especially those which are zoonotic, meaning that they can be transmitted from non-human animals to humans.
- Integrating One-Health research and practice keeping in view environmental anthropology, medical anthropology and science and technology studies (STS) as being highlighted by World Health Organization (WHO) and World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
- Taking initiatives to incorporate One-Health approach in our national health policy.
- Organizing youth and community led knowledge based events to promote the One-Health Concept in Pakistan.
