What is a sector?
A sector is an area of activity aimed at benefits to society, characterised by common processes and institutions
What is a discipline?
A discipline is an area of work or study characterised by common goals, approaches and tools
Examples of sectors:
Examples of disciplines:
Which parts of the sectors agriculture, health and environment relate to the discipline Biology?
Agriculture:
- Increasing animal production
Health:
- Reducing disease burden
Environment:
- Conserving biodiversity
Which parts of the sectors agriculture, health and environment relate to the discipline Economics?
Agriculture:
- Markets, prices, supply and demand
Health:
- Cost-effectiveness of interventions
Environment:
- Valuing ecosystem services
Which parts of the sectors agriculture, health and environment relate to the discipline Sociology?
Agriculture:
- Acceptance of new foods, technologies
Health:
- Acceptance of new drugs, treatments
Environment:
- Attitudes towards the environment
What is One Health and its aims?
What is the latest One Health definition?
One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
It recognises that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and inter-dependent.
The approach mobilises multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development.
What are the examples that show how One Health is evolving?
The Manhattan Principles (2009)
The Berlin Principles (2020)
What do the Manhattan Principles (2009) encompass?
Recognise the essential link between human, domestic animal and wildlife health and the threat of disease
Recognise that decisions regarding land and water use have real implications for health[…]
Include wildlife health science as an essential component of global disease prevention, surveillance, monitoring, control and mitigation
Recognise that human health programs can greatly contribute to conservation efforts
Devise adaptive, holistic and forward-looking approaches to the prevention, surveillance, monitoring, control and mitigation of emerging and resurgent diseases that take the complex interconnections among species into full account
Seek opportunities to fully integrate biodiversity conservation perspectives and human needs[…]
Reduce the demand for and better regulate the international live wildlife and bushmeat trade[…]
Increase investment in the global human and animal health infrastructure commensurate with the serious nature of emerging and resurgent disease threats[…]
Form collaborative relationships among governments, local people, and the private and public (i.e. non profit) sectors to meet the challenges[…]
Invest in educating and raising awareness among the world’s people and in influencing the policy process to increase recognition that we must better understand the relationships between health and ecosystem integrity to succeed in improving prospects for a healthier planet.
What do the Berlin Principles (2020) encompass?
Recognise and take action to retain the essential health links between humans, wildlife, domestic animals and plants, and all nature[…]
Take action to develop strong institutions that integrate understanding of human and anima health with the health of the environment[…]
Take action to combat the current climate crisis[…]
Recognise that decisions regarding the use of land, air sea and freshwater directly impact health and well-being of humans, animals, and ecosystems[…]
Devise adaptive, holistic, and forward-looking approaches to the detection, prevention, monitoring, control and mitigation of emerging/resurgent diseases and exacerbating communicable and non-communicable diseases[…]
Increase cross-sectoral investment in the global human, livestock, wildlife, plant, and ecosystem health infrastructure[…]
Enhance capacity for cross-sectoral and trans-disciplinary health surveillance and clear, timely information sharing[…]
Form participatory, collaborative relationships among governments, NGOs, indigenous peoples, and local communities while strengthening the public sector to meet the challenges of global health and biodiversity conservation.
Invest in educating and raising awareness for global citizenship and holistic planetary health approaches among children and adults in schools, communities, and universities while also influencing policy processes to increase recognition that human health ultimately depends on ecosystem integrity and a healthy planet.
What is the dilemma with One Health, what it is lacking and what’s needed?
Dilemma:
- One Health is intuitively appealing
- Multiple benefits and added value perceived and described
What’s lacking:
- Not mainstream (yet)
- No systematic resource allocation
What’s needed:
- Standardised methods, approaches and data to evaluate One Health activities
- Robust evidence base for informed decision-making and resource allocation
What does One Health do?
One health is a concept that addresses complex challenges to promote the health and well-being of all species through the integration of relevant sciences at systems level
Requires communication, coordination, capacity building and collaboration (the 4Cs)
What are the 4 Cs of One Health?
Communication
Coordination
Capacity Building
Collaboration
What are the 5 One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) Principles?
What are the dimensions of One Health?
What is systemic thinking?
What is holistic planning?
Common aims, problems, financing
What is transdisciplinary working?
Working across sectors, disciplines, groups in society
What is sharing (in One Health)?
Sharing people, knowledge, data, information across sectors and disciplines
What is learning (in One Health)?
Learning as an individual, in groups or across whole institutions
Is One Health One Medicine?
No
One Medicine (or comparative medicine) is not a new paradigm and many vets and medics confuse the current One Health initiatives with older paradigms which were focussed only on the health disciplines and medicine (see histories that mention e.g. Virchow, Osler, Steele, Schwabe).
One Health is much BROADER and recognises the health is a transdisciplinary domain.
Narrow perspective and control over health matters has led to a predominance of curative over preventative approaches to disease.
What is comparative medicine, examples of it and its value?
It is a type of experimental medicine that uses animal models of human and animal disease in translational and biomedical research, also the study of similarities and differences between human and veterinary medicine.
Examples:
Jenner cowpox experiments; experimentation on rhesus monkey for polio vaccine; cancer research on animal models.
Value:
Translational value, biomedical breakthroughs.