One Health is a movement towards a more collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to health. It is based on the concept that the health of all living things is linked – that humans beings, non-human animals and our environment are all interdependent. The health of humans is linked to the health of the animals they live with and eat, the health of wildlife is linked to the health of their ecosystems, which is linked to human treatment of those ecosystems, and so on. That isn’t a new concept, but it’s becoming increasingly important and utilized.

Many infectious diseases are zoonotic, meaning that they can be transmitted between humans and other species. The majority of diseases that have caused recent epidemics and pandemics, including HIV, Ebola and Covid-19, have been zoonotic, and it is likely that we will see more of these emerging infections in the future. As man spreads, so does disease. The growing population is both travelling more and moving into previously uninhabited areas, bringing humans into contact with more wildlife, livestock and pets.

But One Health is about much more than infectious disease. Major focuses include antimicrobial resistance, food security, climate change and conservation, but even this is too narrow a definition. Everything from working animals to health systems, mental health to the human-animal bond and global trade to water safety can be approached from a One Health perspective, and can benefit from this.

One Health can be implemented at all scales, from individual to international. It calls for cooperation between all sectors that impact on the human-animal-environment interface, including healthcare professionals, veterinary medicine, public health, agriculture, policymakers, ecologists, basic and social scientists and local communities. It hopes that this kind of collaboration will help to generate genuine solutions to the health problems we, and our world, are facing.

To read more about One Health, visit the One Health Commission.

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