Building Synergies between the Sectors: One Health and Agroecology Workshop

03 Jun, 2024

One Health is a promising approach to tackle complex health issues, such as zoonotic diseases (a disease spreading between animals and humans, e.g. Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)), vector-borne diseases (that spread to humans via vectors like ticks, rodents or mosquitoes, e.g. dengue) and food-borne diseases (which are transmitted via food stuff). In general, medical doctors focus on the treatment of these diseases. But do you think this is sufficient? Certainly not.

Focusing on the treatment often neglects the source and transmission pathways of diseases. Unless we identify these factors and take some steps to control where the disease comes from, people and animals will get infected again and again. Take an example of KFD, a viral zoonotic disease that often spreads from ticks to humans and monkeys. To prevent and control this disease, human and animal health professionals need to work together. And they also need to involve experts from the environmental sector, given that the disease is transmitted by ticks that mostly live in forests and whose distribution and activity can be influenced by climatic factors.

However, the environmental sector is often less involved in One Health activities than the human and animal health sectors, even at a global level. Therefore, to take an initiative in the country, the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in collaboration with Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), organized a national level One Health workshop on 03 June 2024 in New Delhi. The aim of the workshop was to bring stakeholders together to discuss ongoing One Health activities in the country and scope for synergies between sectors. During this event, several high-level officials from the Government of India, including Ms Leena Nandan, Secretary, MoEFCC, and Shri Jitendra Kumar, Director General Forest and Special Secretary, MoEFCC, as well as Ms Elisabeth Richter, Deputy Head of Economic Cooperation and Development, German Embassy, Federal Government of Germany, which shows the importance that the topic gained.

Within the scope of the Project “One Health and Agroecology”, MoEFCC in partnership with GIZ and in collaboration with partners from other sectors is implementing One Health measures in Goa and Madhya Pradesh. MoEFCC is thereby strengthening the cooperation among human health, animal health, environmental and agricultural sectors in states. During the technical session of the workshop, over 70 participants discussed ongoing One Health activities in different ministries and other institutions, and gave valuable technical recommendations for the project implementation, which started this year. The enthusiasm for One Health and the willingness to collaborate that could be felt at all levels throughout the workshop are an encouraging signal and a promising start of project implementation.

Ms. Leena Nandan, Secretary, MoEFCC, emphasised the importance of understanding interlinkages between the sectors to be successful in the One Health approach | ©GIZ/ Tanbir Azmi

Shri Raghu Kumar Kodali, Advisor, MoEFCC, sharing the objective of the One Health project with participants, which will be implemented by MoEFCC in two states | ©GIZ/ Alexander Geyr