Countries Urged to Prioritize One Health Approach

The heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Program (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) made an urgent call to implement policies based on the One Health approach. Achieving this goal will require cooperation from all countries and key stakeholders to effectively address health threats and promote global health security.

“Today we are calling on countries and stakeholders to join our efforts to achieve a healthier and safer world. This call to action is particularly important at a time when negotiations are still underway to define the global framework for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response,” tweeted Monique Eloit, Director General, WOAH.  

The leaders of FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH have stressed the need to translate the One Health approach into policy in all countries. One Health is an integrated approach that aims to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment. It involves mobilizing multiple sectors and communities to work together to prevent, predict, detect and respond to global health threats such as COVID-19. 

To make One Health a reality, the leaders of these organizations are inviting all countries and key stakeholders to prioritize this approach in the international political agenda and increase understanding of One Health to advocate for the adoption and promotion of enhanced intersectoral health governance.

The leaders also emphasize the need to strengthen national One Health policies, strategies and plans, which should be prioritized in line with the Quadripartite One Health Joint Plan of Action (OH JPA), to foster wider implementation across relevant sectors and at all levels. This includes accelerating the implementation of One Health plans, building intersectoral One Health workforces with the necessary skills and strengthening prevention of pandemics and health threats at the source.

Moreover, the leaders call for the encouragement and strengthening of One Health scientific knowledge, R&D and technology transfer. They also call for the integration of information and data, as well as facilitating access to new tools and technologies. Finally, the leaders urge governments to increase investment and financing of One Health strategies and plans, ensuring scaled-up implementation at all levels.

“The #OneHealth approach is critical to addressing health threats in the animal-human-environment interface,” tweeted Tedros Adhanom, Director General, WHO.