How can ‘one health’ help India, and India help ‘one health’?

Subject :Science and Technology

Section: Health

One Health Approach- Historical perspective:

One Health is a holistic approach to problems that recognises the interconnections between the health of humans, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
An early articulation can be found in the writings of Hippocrates (460-367 BC), who contemplated the relationships between public health and clean environments.
The 19th-century German physician and pathologist Rudolf Virchow (1821-1863) also talked about the integrated health approach of humans and animals.
The eminent veterinarians James Steele (1913-2013) and Calvin Schwabe (1927-2006) have championed the value of ecology for both animal and human health.

Why is One Health special?

Harmful environmental changes led by population growth and urbanization are linked to zoonoses.
Researchers have estimated that 60% of emerging diseases that can infect humans are zoonotic in nature.
They include bird flu, Ebola, rabies, and Japanese encephalitis.
Other threats include: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), food-safety and security and control of vector-borne diseases.
To tackle these intersectoral management and One Health approach is necessary.
One Health minimizes resource requirements across sectors.

What are some recent One Health initiatives?

The Government of India established its ‘Standing Committee on Zoonoses’ in 2006 under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
- The purpose of this committee was to provide the Union and the State governments guidance and recommendations on challenges related to zoonoses.
The Department of Biotechnology launched India’s first consortium on One Health in October 2021.
- It plans to assess the burden of five transboundary animal diseases and 10 select zoonotic diseases.
- The government has allocated Rs 31 crore for three years to the consortium.
In June 2022, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy (DAHD) – in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Confederation of Indian Industry – launched a One Health pilot project in Karnataka and
- This initiative intends to strengthen intersectoral collaborations through capacity-building, with the goal of improving livestock health, human health, wildlife health, and environmental health.
India is also currently preparing for a wider ‘National One Health Mission’.
- The idea behind this mission is to coordinate, support, and integrate all existing One Health initiatives in the country.

How can we switch to a One Health approach?

Stage 1: Communication

The focus is on keeping the important stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the One Health transformation. Example: National Standing Committee on Zoonoses under the MoHFW.

Stage 2: Collaboration

Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of different sectors in zoonoses management.
collaboration means assessing and lowering disease risk, surveillance, building capacity at different institutions, research, and public outreach.
Example: DAHD’s One Health pilot project in Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

Stage 3: Coordination

Stage 4: Integration

A policy framework that helps the relevant sectors to efficiently share resources and streamline their current programmes is essential.
Certain samples like blood, tissue, faecal matter, and effluent water are also expensive and come with ethical implications, and an integrated system that deals with them can prove especially beneficial.