One Health

One Health is a holistic, interdisciplinary approach that investigates the relationship between humans, animals, the environment and health. This approach results from the idea that Global Health cannot be viewed in isolation; it is "dependent on a person's living environment, on factors such as education, the environment, climate, water and food" (BMZ Position 02/2019: Global health, an investment in the future).

The World Health Organization describes One Health as “an approach to designing and implementing programs, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes. The areas of work in which a One Health approach is particularly relevant include food safety, the control of zoonoses (diseases that can spread between animals and humans (…)) and combatting antibiotic resistance.” (WHO)

NEW DEFINITION: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) welcome the newly formed operational definition of One Health from their advisory panel, the One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP):

"One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems. It recognizes the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and inter-dependent. The approach mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development." (OHHLEP States)