‘One health’ collaborative approach is a direction to solve global health challenges

New Delhi, February 18: “One Health India Conference” to launch India's new One Health Initiative - an intersectoral approach to tackling the most urgent health threats in India as well as in low and middle-income countries across South and South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Inaugurating the conference Union Science & Technology minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the subject matter “One Health” dealing with human and animal health together in interaction with the environment in an integrated manner is an urgent need for protecting the global health and secure livelihoods.

 

The main objective of the conference is to formulate a roadmap for the response, preparedness, and management of current regional, national and global health challenges using a One Health collaborative approach. It is known that 60% of human diseases are of animal origin and many of them have developed resistance to major antibiotics in nature and share the ecosystems they live and infect animal and humans.

The Union Minister further stated that to address One Health there is a need to have a collaborative, multisectoral and transdisciplinary approach for designing and implementing programs, policies and legislation supported by basic and applied research.

Estimates of global antibiotic use in poultry, swine and cattle in 2010 indicate that India accounts for 3 per cent of global consumption and is among the top consumers worldwide, along with China, the United States, Brazil and Germany. “Use of antibiotics in chickens, in particular, is expected to triple in India by 2030 and therefore it is important to regulate the use of antibiotics in animals as well as humans to tackle the issue. It is also important to monitor the presence of antibiotic residues in animal food products as their presence can give chance to microbes to acquire resistance.”, said Dr Vardhan.

The conference is bringing together thought-leaders from India and around the globe, providing a platform for researchers, medical and veterinary practitioners, public and private sector stakeholders, and policymakers to integrate knowledge and identify needs and opportunities to better coordinate activities and address major human, animal, and environmental health challenges.