One Health Mission

 

One Health Mission

                                                              

Health of human being is interconnected with animals and environment. Therefore, healthy environment and disease free animals not only promote sound health of human being but also contribute to the state’s economy.

A few years ago outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic put a spotlight on the need for a global framework for improved surveillance and a more holistic, integrated system. Gaps in One Health knowledge, not only losses of millions of life  but also break the world economy .therefore to prevent such pandemic in future ,  linkages between human, animal and environmental health, One Health is seen as a transformative approach to improved global health.

            Moreover, in 2024 in the month of May large number of people hospitalized in Pakistan due to heat wave, increase the number of vector borne disease in South America and Caribbean islands due to climate change as per environmental scientist once again  re-affirmed that human health is greatly affected by the environment.

            According to the World Bank, the expected benefit of One Health to the global community was estimated in 2022 to be at least US$ 37 billion per year. The estimated annual need for expenditure on prevention is less than 10% of these benefits if one health is implemented.

            Thus, One Health Mission concept is prominent and need of the hour in present context to minimize losses of human life as prevent the financial losses. The One health Mission is a collaborative, multidimensional approach, which aim to optimize health outcomes and address challenges across various sectors by undertaking the complex relationship between people, animals, and environment. This approach is crucial for preventing, predicting, detecting and responding to global, national as well as state health threat like COVID -19 Pandemic, Ebola, NIPAH etc.

            The One Health concept was evolved in the year 1961 when veterinarian Calvin Schwab first mentioned in his book-“Veterinary medicine and human health “. He emphasized the interconnectedness of human, animals, and environment health and advocating for a unified approach to understanding and addresses health issue and underlined the importance of collaboration between veterinary and human health professional particularly in the context of zoonotic diseases.  

 

            As One Health concept has wider scope and perspective, at the same time it has many advantages like – preventing zoonotic diseases by understanding the links between human, animals and environmental health and help for early detection and prevention of zoonotic diseases which can spread from animals to humans. Secondly, it will reduce the risk of food borne illness and other food safety issues. Thirdly  reducing antimicrobial resistance, which promotes responsible use of antimicrobial drugs in both human and animal health and helping to combat for growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

            In addition it will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and coordination and communication across various sectors, enabling better coordination and sharing of  knowledge and information. Further, reduce resources requirement and help addressing logistical constraints and advancing in R & D.

            Considering this immense potential and advantages of one health, Government of India approved setting Up of One Health Mission in collaboration with 13 nos of Ministry & Departments of government of India after giving green signal by PM’S Science, Technology and Innovation advisory board in 2012.

            To augment this One health Mission initiative of government of India , a pilot project initiated in the year 2022 under the department  of   Animal Husbandry & Dairy in partnership with Bills & Gates foundation at Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

            Moreover, Establishment of National institute for one health at Nagpur is a positive step and India is the verge of One Health Mission implementation.

            Though, Integrated Disease surveillance Programme under Ministry of Health & Family welfare, Government of India is currently looking after various health issues which are spread from animals to human health like –rabies, snake bite, leptospirosis  etc and environment related  heath issues like  heatstroke  for early detection and prevention and management but there is a need of  more R & D for better integration of various health programmes to onboard One Health Mission. Simultaneously, development of infrastructure, skilling and up-skilling of human resources, integration & adoption of  Artificial Intelligence  in health sectors , uses of latest technology, public & private partnership, community participation is necessary to implement One Health Mission and sustain the objectives of One Health Mission. 

            As India is a vast and diversified country and its geographical location situated in a subtropical region and India is highly associated with a higher prevalence of certain disease particularly vector borne illness like malaria, dengue, chikunguniya, JE etc Moreover, India’s subtropical climatic condition and its diverse ecosystem contribute to a high prevalence of zoonotic diseases where pathogens are naturally transmitted from animals to humans and causes losses of human life. In addition, several factors, including close human –animal interaction, rapid urbanization, and environmental changes, exacerbate the risk of these diseases like- rabies, leptospirosis, scrub typhus and emerging viral disease like Nipah.

            Therefore, One health Mission is not just limited to diseases rather it concerns wider aspects such as antimicrobial resistance, food safety, animal diseases to human  and the impact of climate change on all of these and reduce resources constrains and early preventable, detectable aspect  with collective action. Therefore One Health Mission focused on an actionable framework and moving closer to the clarion call of ‘One Earth, One Health’ and ‘Health for All’ and it will helping  India to achieve  Sustainable Development Goal 3 within the timeframe.

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N-B- Reference -https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/one-health