One Health Unites People, Plants, and Planet to Attain Health For All
Apr 10, 2024
BY DR. EMILY ANNE MCDONALD
It is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort to promote optimal health at local, national, and global scales.
“One Health" has been defined by many different individuals and organizations, but we can distill the concept to its essence - humans, animals, plants, and the planet are interdependent, and the health of one group reflects the health of the others.
The One Health movement began as an effort to characterize the way infectious disease moves between different organisms. Although technological advances have made it possible to track, prevent, and treat many infectious agents that impact human, animal, and environmental health, these approaches alone are not sufficient for tackling the complex, systems based health crises we are facing today.
Instead of trying to mitigate the downstream effects of ecological imbalances, we need to implement integrated, holistic approaches that reflect on our interdependence.
We are witnessing loss of biodiversity across the globe alongside the degradation undisturbed, wild habitats that play an important role in environmental regulation of planetary cycles. These factors have been indicated in various human and animal illnesses including acute and chronic infectious and non-infectious diseases. Additionally, we are inundated with toxins and chemical contaminants, such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals, in the environment and at every level of our commodity supply chains.
While these facts are grim, One Health gives us a way to move shift our focus from the current state of affairs and gives us a way to do better each and every day. When we make decisions that factor in not just our own human health but the health of other organisms such as animals and plants, as well as the health of the environment, we are setting up healthier future for all life on our planet.
