Comprehensive Health Strategy: Why does a unified approach to health policy-making matter?
The One Health concept, a unified approach recognizing the deep interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and environmental health, has gained prominence in recent years. This holistic framework is crucial for addressing zoonotic diseases, which account for about 60–75% of emerging infectious diseases, including pandemics like COVID-19 and outbreaks such as Nipah virus, Avian Influenza, and Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle.
The One Health concept, with its "One Health Triad"—people, animals, and the environment—highlights the mutual influence of these three elements on overall health. By synthesizing expertise across sectors—human medicine, veterinary science, environmental science, and public health—One Health enables:
- Early detection and integrated surveillance of zoonoses.
- Coordinated responses that consider ecological and social drivers.
- Improved strategies for disease control, prevention, and pandemic preparedness.
- Sustainable management of ecosystems to reduce zoonotic spillover risks.
For instance, India’s National One Health Mission exemplifies this approach by targeting collaborative solutions among human health, livestock, wildlife, and environmental sectors to reduce disease burden and enhance biodiversity conservation.
On a global scale, institutions like the World Health Organization emphasize One Health to address complex challenges such as climate change impacts on disease emergence and the socio-ecological dynamics of zoonoses. Despite challenges in policy integration, the approach is increasingly seen as a necessary paradigm to prevent future zoonotic outbreaks and promote health security worldwide.
Urbanization and Wildlife
Rapid urbanization can threaten human health, particularly in terms of infectious diseases, as urbanization can lead to the destruction of wildlife habitats, forcing wild animals to seek food in urban areas and increasing human-wildlife conflicts. This encroachment of wild animals into urban environments can facilitate the spread of pathogens, posing a significant health risk to humans.
Water Contamination
The contamination of water resources is a significant health issue, as water is a means by which pathogens like E. coli, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Shigella, Hepatitis E Virus, Coccidia, and certain Coronavirus types are transmitted. Chemical toxins accumulating in animals are causing health issues in humans who consume animal products, including heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls.
Climate Change and Health Risks
Climate change can also lead to extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, storms, and floods, causing waste water to overflow and spread waterborne diseases. Additionally, increased temperatures due to climate change can facilitate the spread of disease-carrying arthropod species, making it difficult to control vectors of diseases like dengue fever, Zika, malaria, and West Nile virus.
Zoonotic Diseases and Wildlife
Wildlife species can carry potentially dangerous pathogens in their robust immune systems for years, but habitat degradation can lead to increased interspecific competition and reduced areas for hiding, causing environmental stress on wildlife and allowing opportunistic pathogens to spread and cause diseases. Notable zoonotic diseases include typhus, typhoid, dysentery, bird flu, tuberculosis, anthrax, tetanus, brucellosis, listeriosis, rabies, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, echinococcosis, and COVID-19.
Invasive species can introduce new pathogens to other regions, causing significant damage to local biodiversity and potentially triggering epidemic diseases. These species can act as vectors and reservoirs.
Antimicrobial Resistance and Chemical Pollution
Antimicrobial agents used in animal feed can be discharged into the environment and accumulate in wastewater and agricultural lands, contributing to the formation of resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance is a major concern for scientists today, with antibiotic resistance causing treatable infections to become untreatable in humans and animals. Antimicrobial resistance is a significant health issue, causing an estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide each year.
Chemical toxins like lead, cadmium, and mercury can accumulate in soil and travel long distances, posing a risk to human health when consumed through plants and animals.
The Covid-19 Pandemic and One Health
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of the human-animal-environment connection on a global scale. SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, is believed to have originated from bats and was transmitted to humans via another animal species.
The One Health Concept and Global Health
The One Health Concept advocates for a holistic approach to health policies, involving scientists from different disciplines. This approach is relevant to issues like antimicrobial resistance, chemical pollution, and water pollution, as these issues have significant impacts on human and animal health.
Collaboration between veterinarians and medical doctors is crucial for preventing or effectively intervening in zoonotic diseases. The One Health Concept emphasizes the interdependence of human health, environmental health, and animal health, and its significance lies in transforming how zoonotic diseases and global health challenges are managed through interdisciplinary collaboration and integrated policies.
In the context of addressing complex health challenges, the One Health Concept merges veterinary science, environmental science, and public health expertise to:
- Advance disease control, prevention, and pandemic preparedness strategies, as seen in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic, which highlighted the human-animal-environment connection.
- Mitigate risks of emerging zoonotic diseases, such as typhus, bird flu, and E. coli, by understanding and managing anthropogenic pressures on wildlife and their habitats.
Urbanization and climate change can impact health-and-wellness by causing water contamination and facilitating the spread of waterborne diseases and arthropod-borne diseases, respectively. Effective disease management requires an integrated approach that acknowledges the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and environmental health, as outlined in the One Health Concept.
