How One Health can help India respond better to health crises

Why in the News?

India has been taking significant strides for the adoption of a ‘National One Health Mission’ to be led by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor.

The concept of ‘One Health Strategy’:

1. It is a holistic approach recognises the problems among the interconnections between the health of humans, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
2. It is based on ideas of:
   1. There is a strong relationship between public health and clean environments.
   2. Between animal and human medicines there are no dividing lines and there should not be.
   3. the value of ecology is vital for both animal and human health.
3. The One Health strategy aims for intersectoral management and the efficiency to handle the issue of health problems that results from environmental changes.  For instance, human population growth, urbanisation, and industrialisation have increased the damage to biodiversity and ecosystems which are linked to Zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and security, and the control of vector-borne diseases.
4. This strategy helps in minimising resource requirements across sectors as it
   1. encourages coordination across governmental units and departments of various ministries.
   2. allows researchers to share their laboratories and findings, that helps them to make decisions which are resilient, sustainable, and predictable policies.
5. Helps in fostering economic benefits as in the case of managing a pandemic with a non-One-Health approach. For instance, the economic cost involved in managing a pandemic would cost around $30 billion a year as per an assessment of the G20 Joint Finance and Health Taskforce.

Recent One Health initiatives:

1. ‘Standing Committee on Zoonoses’ was established in 2006 under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
   1. It was set up to provide guidance and recommendations on challenges related to zoonoses to the Union and the State governments.
2. India’s first consortium on One Health was launched by the Department of Biotechnology in 2021.
   1. 27 organisations from several ministries and plans are brought together under the consortium.
   2. It was established to assess the burden of 5 transboundary animal diseases and 10 select zoonotic diseases. 
   3. It also intends to improve cross-cutting collaborations between the animal, human, and wildlife sectors with an outlay of Rs 31 crore for three years.
3. A One Health pilot project was launched in Karnataka and Uttarakhand in 2022
   1. Launched by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy (DAHD) – in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
   2. It aims to strengthen intersectoral collaborations via capacity-building, with the goal of improving livestock health, human health, wildlife health, and environmental health.
4. A ‘National One Health Mission’ has also been planned for launch that aims to coordinate, support, and integrate all existing One Health initiatives in the country.

How can we switch to a One Health approach?

It requires consistent political will and sustainable financing structures that has to be challenged through four stages of transformation process:

1. Communication between various ministries and/or sectors, keeping the important stakeholders informed and engaged by meeting regularly and reviewing progress.
2. Collaboration between the relevant sectors and its members to exchange their knowledge and expertise to enable translation of ideas into short-term interventions.
3. Coordination shall include,
   1. Routine environmental and disease surveillance
   2. Monitoring trade across borders with respect to animals and animal products
   3. Conducting regular awareness campaigns.
4. Integration both vertically (government sectors and their units) and horizontally (integration and development of synergies between programmes) across various sectors.