04 November 2024, Africa: On One Health Day, we explore the connection between human, animal, plant and ecosystem health and how CABI’s work in One Health is helping to build a healthier, more sustainable future.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, One Health has gained increasing attention. This transdisciplinary approach recognizes the fundamental connections between human, animal, plant and ecosystem health. Moreover, it seeks to leverage the synergy that comes from considering these four spheres simultaneously. One of the fundamental elements of One Health is connecting and mobilizing a wide range of health communities and disciplines. It unites people from the public health, veterinary, plant health, environmental and policymaking sectors. This cooperation helps us to better understand and respond to a wider range of health threats.
The One Health approach is important because it addresses some of the biggest challenges of our time such as climate change, food security, tropical and vector-borne diseases and anti-microbial resistance. The approach is especially important in agriculture. Here, it helps to prevent health risks to smallholder farmers, livestock and crops, and the people that eat the products, as well as the environments in which everything is sustained. As the World Health Organization states, One Health can help us to “prevent, predict, detect and respond to global health threats.” We can tackle the root causes of risks to health, creating more effective long-term and sustainable solutions.
CABI and the 8th World One Health Congress
In September 2024, CABI attended the 8th World One Health Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 2011 in Melbourne, Australia, this annual Congress aims to make connections between One Health science and policy. It also promotes a collaborative and cross-sectoral approach to One Health. By working in partnership, participants help to improve the well-being of humans, animals and their environments. CABI met with delegates in Cape Town and discussed major One Health challenges. The organization’s key contributions, innovations and collaborations that support the One Health approach have been captured here.
CABI’s One Health Hub and the Juno Evidence Alliance
CABI recently established a knowledge, learning and evidence platform on One Health to facilitate a learning and evidence synthesis hub for One Health. This resource helps us to work with partners on this critical issue. Moreover, it advances sustainable development solutions to global health challenges. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is an integral player in One Health. It supports CABI in the management of the One Health Hub. This knowledge, learning and evidence platform focuses on One Health to facilitate learning and evidence synthesis across animal and plant health investments.
The Juno Evidence Alliance is a pioneering platform that fills a gap in the coordination and standardization of evidence synthesis intended to inform decision-making. In 2023, the FCDO commissioned an evidence synthesis under Juno to examine One Health. Specifically, the synthesis is investigating factors that inhibit or support effective implementation of One Health at a country level. The work focuses on African countries and Juno is now a partner in the CABI One Health Hub. Together with Juno, the One Health Hub will carry out a horizon scanning exercise to identify One Health research priorities to inform a research roadmap.
CABI and One Health approaches
Controlling plant pests and diseases to improve health
CABI has increasingly harnessed One Health approaches in its work. Many of our projects promote transdisciplinary approaches. They help us to understand health threats that impact people, animals, plants and the environment. One critical way we do this is through biocontrol, using natural enemies of plant pests and diseases to control their spread. This helps to reduce the need for potentially toxic chemical pesticides, which harm humans, animals and ecosystems.
Pesticide risk reduction is also a key area of CABI’s work. It lowers the harmful effects of chemical pesticides on humans, animals and nature and helps the uptake in agriculture of more sustainable farming practices. In 2023, CABI adopted an integrated landscape management approach. This collaboration among different stakeholders from various sectors helps to ensure that cross-cutting needs are met, safeguarding livelihoods and well-being, while preserving the health of the environment. These methods work together to reduce environmental damage while improving the lives (and health) of the people who live there as well as native biodiversity and wildlife.
Another cross-cutting area of CABI’s work is anti-microbial resistance (AMR). An estimated 1.3 million people die from AMR worldwide every year. Affecting humans, livestock, plants, and the environment, a resistance to microbes cannot be addressed by focusing solely on the human health sector. Many of the same antimicrobials are used to manage livestock diseases and certain plant diseases. Instead, close collaboration is needed. CABI scientists are working to address AMR from multiples angles. Similarly, mycotoxins – toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi growing on crops – affect human, and animal health. CABI successfully worked with partners in Pakistan to create a product that reduces aflatoxins (a type of mycotoxin) called AflaPak.
Combining efforts to support One Health approaches
By integrating service delivery and developing joint crop-livestock clinics, CABI is using a connected One Health approach. CABI runs joint health advisory services (clinics) in Kenya and Uganda. These clinics enable smallholder farmers to obtain evidence-based health information to treat their crops and livestock, thereby addressing issues such as food safety. Some of the issues addressed include zoonotic diseases such as rabies which can be transmitted to humans. This integrated service delivery is enabling cross-sectoral debate and complementary action on One Health issues in these two countries.
CABI and One Health knowledge resources
CABI publishes a wide range of One Health resources, including CABI One Health. This open access journal focuses on the interconnections between humans, animals, plants, ecosystems and their shared environment in a transdisciplinary way. CABI’s One Health Cases is also a growing platform for researchers, practitioners and organizations. It contains real examples of One Health in practice. And the One Health Knowledge Bank brings together knowledge from different sources to further One Health research, including blogs and webinars.
Identifying key One Health needs for the future
CABI is dedicated to One Health, bringing people together from human, animal, and environmental disciplines. This collaboration helps tackle urgent health problems worldwide. By sharing research, resources and new ideas, CABI is working towards a healthier, more sustainable future. Working across different areas, we aim to solve health challenges with joint solutions. For this reason, we are calling for support to identify future One Health research.
The global health landscape is ever-changing. New cross-cutting health challenges and threats constantly emerge. This makes identifying future One Health research needs more crucial than ever before. The Juno Evidence Alliance in collaboration with OXSREV will be conducting an online survey between October and December 2024. This survey will help the One Health Hub identify the priority research needs for One Health over the next 5-10 years. We would be delighted if you could take part and contribute your expertise. Register your interest in taking part in the survey here.
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