The Power of One Health Connects Local and Global Health

By Katherine Seaton, Editorial OfficerNovember 14, 2019What do dogs, HIV care, and the Galapagos Islands all have in common?They are all integral parts of theOne Health approach to improve the future of global health for centuries to come.Human health doesn’t exist in a bubble. Our world is interconnected in ways we have yet to understand. So we need to learn more about the connections between the health of humans, animals, and the environment. Current global megatrends may make it seem like the future is daunting.Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are rising—the World Health Organization estimates that they kill 40 million people each year, accounting for 70% of deaths worldwide.Urbanization is increasing the prevalence of airborne diseases, causing around 7 million premature deaths annually. And the earth is warming at amuch faster rate than expected. Globally,around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction within decades, and the rate and size ofclimate disasters are increasing“If we don’t get this right, we are in great peril.” - Tim Mastro, chief science officer at FHI360We can begin to understand how these megatrends are connected and influence each other by firstacknowledging that local and global health are interconnected.“We often stovepipe our species as if they have nothing to do with the global community,” said Dennis Carroll, the former director of the U.S. Agency for International Develop...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Community Engagement Private-Sector Approaches Global Health Security Source Type: news