World Marks 8th One Health Day
By Bernadette Idalu
The eighth edition of the "One health day" celebrated annually on November 3rd every year was today marked with a call for collaborative efforts by health practitioners irrespective of their field of specialty, scientists, agriculturists and even environmentalists to deepen interest in observation and sharing of information amongst professionals to boost overall health and development of society.
Speaking on Advocate Broadcasting Network (ADBN) "Talking Point," Dr. Aniefiok Udom, a veterinary doctor, pushed for collaboration of all medical fields and the certification of all animal products before human consumption for adequate environmental, societal, human good and protection.
The heart, kidney and liver he said could be affected when consuming a poisoned or sick animal which he attributed to be responsible for some of the emerging tales of families consuming food before going to bed but failing to wake up due to sudden death.
Though he noted that some poisons become even more toxic when boiled (ingesting animals killed by poison) there remained the need as Africans to cook meat properly especially by those who defy safety standards for their overall health safety.
Health practitioners he said, irrespective of specialty should collaboratively investigate and share information with those in relevant or related field of practice instead of looking away and feeling unconcerned whenever sudden strange occurrences happen in society.
Udom noted that immunity, viral load, allergies from particles in the air or perfumes sometimes trigger allergic reactions in some persons and can even lead to antimicrobial resistivity emanating from consumption of infected animals or water which leads to the transfer of such resistant genes from animals to man as he cited the case of resistant malaria.
Praising this year's One health day theme, "Act together for one health," he called on policy makers to formulate policies which make the environment good for living
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) in its news release called on world leaders to increase political commitment and action to invest in the “One Health” approach to prevent and tackle common threats affecting the health and well-being of humans, animals, plants and environment together.
WHO joined community organizations observing the eighth annual “One Health Day” campaign to attract global attention to the importance of the One Health approach which relies on understanding how human actions and policies could affect animal and environment health.
The One Health Day provides everyone with an opportunity to educate themselves on the connections between the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment.
One Health is a proven approach to policy-making and cross-sector collaboration to prevent zoonotic and vector-borne diseases from emerging and re-emerging, ensuring food safety and maintaining sustainable food production; reducing antimicrobial-resistant infections; and addressing environmental issues to collectively improve human, animal and environmental health, among many other areas. It creates opportunities to mobilize the whole of society so that veterinarians, doctors, epidemiologists, public health practitioners, wildlife experts, community leaders, and people from different sectors can work together without silos to tackle major health threats.
“A One Health approach makes public health sense, economic sense and common sense,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “It’s obvious that we can only protect and promote the health of humans by protecting and promoting the health of animals, and the planet on which all life depends. We welcome the increasing political consensus on One Health globally, and we are committed to supporting countries to translate the One Health concept into action that makes a difference.”
Health impacts of climate crisis, water contamination, food safety and increasing disease outbreaks are among some of the greatest challenges humanity and the planet are facing today. For example, air pollution leads to 7 million human deaths with US$ 3 trillion losses every year. Antimicrobial resistance-related issues lead to 5 million human deaths every year, with an expected economic loss of up to US$ 100 trillion by 2050. The estimated scale of human deaths from COVID-19, a recent emerging disease, was 6 million by 2022, with more than US$ 3.5 trillion economic loss.
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