Topics Covered: Issues related to Health.
OneHealth concept
What to study?
For Prelims and Mains: OneHealth- features, objectives and significance.
Context: The concept of ‘One Health’, which recognises that health of human beings is connected to health of animals and environment, is gaining importance as most of the contagious diseases affecting humans are zoonotic (animal to man origin) in nature.
The concept of One Health can be effectively implemented for reducing incidence of emerging zoonotic threats like COVID-19.
What is OneHealth concept?
- One Health is the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally, to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment, as defined by the One Health Initiative Task Force.
- One Health model facilitates interdisciplinary approach in disease control so as to control emerging and existing zoonotic threats.
What are common One Health issues?
One Health issues include zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and food security, vector-borne diseases, environmental contamination, and other health threats shared by people, animals, and the environment. Even the fields of chronic disease, mental health, injury, occupational health, and noncommunicable diseases can benefit from a One Health approach involving collaboration across disciplines and sectors.
Significance of the model:
- One Health model is a globally accepted model for research on epidemiology, diagnosis and control of zoonotic diseases.
- The WHO is very effectively addressing emerging issues of antimicrobial resistance through One Health research.
- All the developing countries are in the process of promoting One Health research for developing a sustainable disease control system.
What next?
Need of the hour is to scale up such a model across the country and to establish meaningful research collaborations across the world.
Insta Link:
Prelims Link:
- One Health component under the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Well Being.
- Zoonotic vs vector-borne diseases.
- Common OneHealth issues.
Mains Link:
One Health model is a globally accepted model for research on epidemiology, diagnosis and control of zoonotic diseases. Discuss.
Sources: the Hindu.
