A ‘One Health’ approach that targets people, animals

NEWS The battle against COVID-19 should also be used as an opportunity to meet India’s ‘One Health’ targets.

In 1856, the father of modern pathology, Rudolf Virchow, emphasised that there are essentially no dividing lines between animal and human medicine.
In the present times, when the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, this concept has become ever more salient.
Hence, the discussions that took place around World Veterinary Day, on April 24, 2021, focused on acknowledging the interconnectedness of animals, humans, and the environment, an approach referred to as “One Health”.

The transboundary impact of viral outbreaks in recent years such as the Nipah virus, Ebola, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Avian Influenza has further reinforced the need for us to consistently document the linkages between the environment, animals, and human health.
Studies indicate that more than two-thirds of existing and emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, or can be transferred between animals and humans, and vice versa.
Another category of diseases, “anthropozoonotic” infections, gets transferred from humans to animals.

India’s ‘One Health’ vision derives its blueprint from the agreement between the tripartite-plus alliance comprising the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) — a global initiative supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank under the overarching goal of contributing to ‘One World, One Health’.
With long-term objectives, India established a National Standing Committee on Zoonoses as far back as the 1980s.
This year, funds were sanctioned for setting up a ‘Centre for One Health’ at Nagpur.
Further, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) has launched several schemes to mitigate the prevalence of animal diseases since 2015. In addition, it will soon establish a ‘One Health’ unit within the Ministry.
Also, under the National Animal Disease Control Programme, ₹13,343 crore have been sanctioned for Foot and Mouth disease and Brucellosis control.
The government is working to revamp programmes that focus on capacity building for veterinarians and upgrading the animal health diagnostic system such as Assistance to States for Control of Animal Diseases (ASCAD).

Scientists have observed that there are more than 1.7 million viruses circulating in wildlife, and many of them are likely to be zoonotic.
This implies that unless there is timely detection, India risks facing many more pandemics in times to come.
To achieve targets under the ‘One Health’ vision, there is a need to address challenges related such as:
- veterinary manpower shortages,
- the lack of information sharing between human and animal health institutions,
- inadequate coordination on food safety at slaughter, distribution, and retail facilities.
These issues can be remedied by consolidating existing animal health and disease surveillance systems.
Hence, there is a need for consolidating existing animal health and disease surveillance systems such as the Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health and the National Animal Disease Reporting System.
Best-practice guidelines for informal market and slaughterhouse operation and creating mechanisms to operationalise ‘One Health’ at every stage down to the village level must be developed.
Awareness generation and increased investments toward meeting ‘One Health’ targets is the need of the hour.

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-one-health-approach-that-targets-people-animals/article34474681.ece

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