FAO promotes the One Health approach because it deems it indispensable for achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda Goals
(Rinnovabili.it) – One Health is a worldwide strategy to intensify interdisciplinary collaborations in human, animal and environmental health care. The goal is the advancement of public health care thanks to sharing of scientific knowledge. As the name implies, health is one, a unique heritage to be preserved and shared globally.
Given by now the interconnection between the health of people, animals, plants and the environment, the integrated approach of One Heath is aimed at building a similar interconnection between scholars from different sectors to work towards achieving common well-being and to address any threats, as happened with the Covid-19. This pandemic, which has put human health in crisis due to a virus transmitted by animals (it is estimated that 60% of human pathogens are of animal origin, about three quarters of which are from wild specimens), highlights the need for coordinated actions to protect health and prevent the crisis of the food systems.
The FAO promotes the One Health approach because it considers it indispensable for the achievement of the objectives ofAgenda 2030 United Nations and supports the design and implementation of common strategies; it also encourages the sharing of epidemiological data and scientific information between different countries to plan effective responses in health emergencies. Among the objectives of the One Health strategy there is also the protection of biodiversity and support for good agricultural practices to prevent, mitigate and manage plant diseases (multisectoral working groups have already been set up to study microbial resistance) and consequently have sufficient harvests to feed the greatest number of people. The sharing of good practices from farm to fork is also in line with the indications of the European strategy Farm to Fork which aims to achieve food security.
FAO collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (GOOSE) in support of One Heath programs.
Among the priorities of One Health:
• strengthening of monitoring, surveillance and communication systems for prevent and detect the onset of animal and zoonotic diseases and control their spread;
• understanding the risk factors for the spread of disease from wildlife to domestic animals and humans for prevent and manage disease outbreaks;
• develop skills coordination and sharing of information;
• strengthen the veterinary and phytosanitary infrastructure to produce safe food;
• increase the capacities of the food and agricultural sectors to combat and minimize the risks of resistance to antimicrobials (which they are working on jointly EFSA, ECDC ed EMA);
• promote the food safety nationally and internationally.
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