One Health Initiative is a collaborative effort focused on bringing various animal and human health care departments, as well as environmental departments together to improve the health and well-being of all species. Researches completed by the organizations that take part in the One Health Initiative have shown the direct links between human and animal health and is continually working on their further understanding and prevention (Osterhaus et al., 2020). There are numerous examples of diseases born from animals or the environment, and the lack of cooperation between these scientific fields of research played an important part in several latest epidemic outbreaks.
Three components provide a stable framework for One Health:
- Microbiological strains of microorganisms that influence human and animal health allow scientists to monitor their behavior and mutations, as well as develop new methods of disease prevention.
- Observations of ecosystem health provide early signs of potential dangers to human and animal health. This also gives people a chance to conserve the biodiversity of ecosystems, which is required for mutual survival between animals and humans (Osterhaus et al., 2020).
- Studies of interactions between humans and animals, especially wild ones, allow scientists to predict future virus emergences or biodiversity threats.
Through participation in the One Health Initiative, countries can provide crucial information about the situation of the environment and the problems people need to focus on to defend the health of all species. Due to the increased interconnectedness between humans and animals, diseases are more likely to spread, and cooperation among all countries is mandatory to maintain healthy populations (Osterhaus et al., 2020). An example of this would be COVID-19 and its studies that will help in the prevention of further coronaviruses emergence. The One Health Institute, CA, currently works on compiling an open source FAQ with thorough information on the topic provided by many countries and organizations that aim to raise pandemic preparedness.
The social sciences help in understanding the disease and preventing its spread. Again taking COVID-19 as an example, it can be seen how people can reduce the effects of pandemics through social awareness, support of others, and self-isolation. My biggest takeaways from the course are the knowledge of zoonotic diseases, relations between social and medical sciences, and the importance of open information in disease prevention. I believe this knowledge would help me to be more aware of potential threats to the ecosystem and humanity people create.
References
Osterhaus, A., Vanlangendonck, C., Barbeschi, M., Bruschke, C., Christensen, R., Daszak, P., de Groot, F., Doherty, P., Drury, P., Gmacz, S., Hamilton, K., Hart, J., Katz, R., Longuet, C., McLeay, J., Morelli, G., Schlundt, J., Smith, T., Suri, S., … Wagenaar, J. (2020). Make science evolve into a One Health approach to improve health and security: A white paper. One Health Outlook, 2(6). doi: 10.1186/s42522-019-0009-7