In Focus: One Health, One World

Promote “One Health” and work together to build a Community of All Life on Earth.

In recent years, human-caused global warming and the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats, combined with increased contact between humans, wildlife and domesticated specie, have increased the health crisis for the interaction among animals, humans and the environment, promoting a rethinking of the close relationship among human health, animal health and environmental health.

The concept of “One Health” emerges as the times require. As an emerging interdiscipline, “One Health” includes animal health, human health and environmental health. It is an important part of global science and technology governance and global environmental governance, and is closely related to working together to build a Community of All Life on Earth.

Currently, research in the field of “One Health” is relatively at an early stage. The global research on “One Health” presents a trend of interdisciplinary development, and related practices are also in the process of advancement, such as climate change and disease outbreaks, habitat loss and disease outbreaks, etc.

In October 2022, a new One Health Joint Plan of Action was launched by the Quadripartite - the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE). This first joint plan on One Health aims to improve the health of humans, animals and the environment, while contributing to sustainable development. On March 29, 2023, the five Central Asian countries (i.e. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan) have jointly confirmed their intention to reduce the risk of zoonosis in the region by adopting a One Health approach to strengthen landscape resilience across the region. On March 29, 2023, five Central Asian countries have jointly confirmed their interest to mitigate the risk of zoonosis emergence in the region by enhancing overall landscape resilience through the One Health approach. This underscores the global active actions to work together to advance One Health.

One Health, One World.

This month’s journal focuses on topics related to One Health and a Community of All Life on Earth, and discusses the interdisciplinary development and related research of One Health with readers.