One Health is a holistic approach requiring interdisciplinary collaboration to optimize human, plant, animal and ecosystem health. A quadripartite partnership involving four agencies of the United Nations has recently been initiated, to help them step out of their respective silos and operationalize this approach. By recognizing the inextricable linkages between the components, the initiative seeks to develop a strategy to safeguard human health on a rapidly changing planet. Anthropogenic land use changes have impacted and continue to threaten much of our remaining forests. This has brought humans and their livestock into closer proximity to wildlife, thereby significantly increasing interactions, alongside causing alarming loss in biodiversity. The result is an increase in the likelihood of disease spill-over events and parallel threats to food and economic security, climate resilience, as well as wildlife conservation. All these issues have demonstrated a dire need for One Health strategies to be adopted across disciplines and sectors and be put in place, especially in the highly vulnerable tropics.

This symposium will cover broad topics encapsulating the pivotal components of the One Health view, involving human, plant, livestock, wildlife, and environmental health. The presentations will not only touch upon the concepts of the One Health approach, but also on methodologies and frameworks that will guide in transforming these “Concepts into Action”. The primary goal of the symposium is aimed at shedding light on the various interfaces, and in recognizing the interconnectedness of these components and their relevancy in the participants’ field of work.

Objectives:

To establish One Health interest and to strengthen the knowledge base on the concept of One Health.
To emphasize and explore the need for collaborative actions and their benefits.
To disseminate knowledge on the pathways for implementation of One Health strategies.