One Health News

Who's in Charge? Leadership during Epidemics, Bioterror Attacks, and Other Public Health Crises (Praeger Security International) 2nd Edition

by Laura H. Kahn  (Author)

 SEE: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Epidemics-Bioterror-Security-International-dp-144087817X/dp/144087817X/ref=mt_pape

The peril of human-animal chimera experiments

SEE: https://asiatimes.com/2020/05/the-hazards-of-human-animal-chimera-experiments/

Asia Times

... GOF or chimeric research, is also advancing the One Health Initiative that seeks to produce a cross-species vaccine for both human and animals. 

“... This grafting of man and beast to recombine their DNA more closely, and the merging of different species to study disease through GOF or chimeric research, is also advancing the One Health Initiative that seeks to produce a cross-species vaccine for both human and animals. ...”

Reconnecting for our future: The Lancet One Health Commission

Please read complete commentary article at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31027-8/fulltext

 “... The apparent dominance of the human species comes with a huge responsibility. Thus, in our quest to ensure the health and continued existence of humanity, consideration must be given to the complex interconnectedness and interdependence of all living species and the environment—the concept of One Health.^6 7  8

 One Health highlights the synergistic benefit of closer cooperation between the human, animal, and environmental health sciences, as well as the importance of dismantling disciplinary and professional silos. The One Health concept has been recognised and promoted by the UN, the G20, and WHO, among several others.⁹

 The Sustainable Development Goals in themselves can be understood as embodying a One Health strategy aimed at healthy people living on a perpetually habitable planet.¹⁰ ...  

... The Lancet One Health Commission aims for transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration to promote original thinking and generate solutions to the complex global health challenges of modern times, most of which require a One Health approach. The Commission's work is expected to offer a recalibrated understanding of the ways in which these global health challenges are implicated within the complex interconnectedness of humans, animals, and our shared environment, and to provide an approach for harnessing this knowledge to ensure a sustainably healthy future for all species, and the planet we inhabit. 

The main objective of The Lancet One Health Commission is to synthesise the evidence supporting a One Health approach to enhancing health within an environment shared by humans and animals. The Commission's work will explicate the significance of a One Health approach for policy by engaging transdisciplinary expertise and perspectives from both the public and private sectors. The Commission will explore global health challenges through a One Health lens,¹¹  directing attention to infectious diseases, AMR, and non-communicable diseases—the latter of which have often been left out of the discourse on One Health. ...”

 www.thelancet.com Vol 395 May 9, 2020

'One Health' Approach Could Help India Avert COVID-19-like Pandemic In Future

OUTLOOK INDIA

'One Health' is a collaborative effort where multiple stakeholders work in tandem to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment.

By Justice (retd) KS Radhakrishnan,  Varda Mehrotra  15 May 2020 

OneHealthLessons.com has LAUNCHED!

An excellent first of its kind “One Health” teaching program is now available online.  Please see:

https://transcripts.gotomeeting.com/#/s/d4aee22c22291926256fcc8cc087574883ecfad00d361eb85ec8cf523100b436

“The Environmental Crisis Is Far More Urgent Today”

Read complete article at: https://scienceblog.com/516354/the-environmental-crisis-is-far-more-urgent-today/

May 14, 2020 CNRS

According to Serge Morand, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the CNRS and CIRAD, researchers in ecology and the environmental sciences are more politically-minded than they were 20 or 30 years ago. Projects that combine scientific research with political action involving local communities are mushrooming around the world. ...

You also mention the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)… 
S. M.: The IPBES is a network of experts on biodiversity, analogous to the IPCC for climate change, conceived by the UN in 2005 and officially founded in 2012. It was the IPBES that, for example, alerted us last year that there are now one million animal species at risk of imminent extinction. Until now, this network did not focus on health or epidemics, but that is changing. The IPBES was to launch an extensive study this year – now rescheduled for 2021, due to the context – on the impact of our agricultural and livestock policies. We should also consider the role of UNESCO, which provides its support and experience of ‘biosphere reserves’, that is, zones that have been considered useful for studying biodiversity and working towards more sustainable ecosystems. UNESCO is an ideal institution for concretely demonstrating the importance of biodiversity for health, as it promotes both scientific research and popular education. Generally speaking, this type of action comes in the wake of ‘One Health’, an initiative launched by the UN in the early 2000s but only truly active in the past decade. The idea is to create an alliance between entities such as the WHO, the FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health in order to improve the response to ecological and epidemiological risks.  ...

20 Minutes With: Mark Smolinski of Ending Pandemics

By 

Abby Schultz

 Updated May 11, 2020 6:25 pm ET 

Read complete article at https://www.barrons.com/articles/top-chefs-make-major-menu-shifts-in-order-to-serve-meals-amid-covid-19-01587294725 

“... Ending Pandemics also takes a “One Health" approach. You can see with Covid-19: We know three out of every four diseases that cause epidemics or pandemics potentially come from animals. We focus everything that we do in other countries on the One Health approach: Not only the human health sector, but the animal health sector. In many areas of the world, systems we are building are finding animal diseases, which saves [communities] money. That is equally important to the health of the people as finding an animal disease that has the potential to jump to humans and then also leads to illness on top of economic hardship.

In the countries where we work, that’s the approach we take to bring the human and the animal and the environment together, and the goal is how do we find outbreaks faster. 

If we can find these outbreaks faster, if we can be thinking about outbreaks in animals as equally as we are thinking about outbreaks in humans, because all we need to do is connect those people, the market workers, the farmers, the community health volunteers, and the public—the people who are with the animals—is one way to get those signals earlier. That’s what’s exciting—to see how all these systems are ramping up and being used to track a public health emergency. That’s what we need to be doing. ...”

COVID-19: How much protection do face masks offer?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449

Surgical masks

“Also called a medical mask, a surgical mask is a loose-fitting disposable mask that protects the wearer's nose and mouth from contact with droplets, splashes and sprays that may contain germs. A surgical mask also filters out large particles in the air. Surgical masks may protect others by reducing exposure to the saliva and respiratory secretions of the mask wearer.”

Chinese, UK universities to jointly carry out One-Health research

Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-09 20:47:18|Editor: huaxia

SEE: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/09/c_139043851.htm

HAIKOU/SHANGHAI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Edinburgh on Friday signed a cooperation framework agreement online on the establishment of a "One-Health" research center. 

Representatives from the two universities pledged to jointly develop the One-Health disciplinary system, with focuses on developing a disciplinary system concerning major healthcare governance of humans, animals and the environment. 

The concept of One Health considers the health of humans, animals and the environment as a whole, stressing multi-disciplinary and global cooperation, according to Chen Guoqiang, vice president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and dean of its School of Medicine. 

The center is committed to serving as an inter-disciplinary and cross-regional research platform, setting up practice and training bases in Shanghai and south China's Hainan Province, cultivating talent and strengthening international exchanges and cooperation, Chen said. 

The two universities and the research center also signed an MOU with the management bureau of the Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Hainan's Bo'ao, leveraging the pilot zone's favorable policies and resources to promote a trial run of the One-Health system in Hainan.

Opinion: Helping women get into science early for future pandemic response

By Aurore Nishimwe // 08 May 2020  SEE: https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-helping-women-get-into-science-early-for-future-pandemic-response-97029 

“ ... The coronavirus reminds us that we need more people engaged in preparedness for and response to future outbreaks and pandemics. Women — making up a large portion of the world’s population — do not have to be left behind. They need to be engaged in science to be equipped to deal with global challenges.

This op-ed offers some key ways to help increase girls' participation in STEM, such as changing gender norms and mindsets, exposing girls to relevant role models, and increasing basic education for all.

And as the interrelationships between living beings and the planet are becoming more evident, it is time to approach global health challenges in a broad manner to help prevent future pandemics. An example of such an approach is “one health” — a multidisciplinary field that examines the links between human activity, animals, and the environment.

Research suggests that physicists, chemists, and biologists are likely to view a young male scientist more favorably than a woman with the same qualifications. In Rwanda, STEM — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — is a field some women shy away from; culturally, women have been known to go for “softer” careers. However, there is hope that this will change in the near future, as much effort is being put in girls’ education, particularly in STEM fields. ...