World Veterinary Association/World Medical Association Global Conference on One Health – Report and Presentations
The WVA/WMA Global Conference on One Health which was held in Madrid, Spain on May 21-22, 2015, brought together 330 delegates from 40 countries around the world to discuss the One Health Concept.
Introduction
On 21 and 22nd of May 2015, The World Veterinary Association (WVA) and the World Medical Association (WMA) in collaboration with the Spanish Medical (SMA) and Veterinary (SVA) Associations organized the Global Conference on 'One Health' Concept with the theme: Drivers towards One Health - “Strengthening collaboration between Physicians and Veterinarians”.
The Global Conference brought together 330 delegates from 40 countries around the world. Veterinarians, Physicians, Students, Public Health Officials, and NGOs representatives received presentations from high level speakers and had the opportunity to learn, discuss and address critical aspects of the One Health Concept. During the conference breaks, poster sessions took place where delegates could view and discuss different One Health topics with the authors.
The main objectives of the conference were to strengthen the links and communications and to achieve closer collaboration between Physicians, Veterinarians and all relevant stakeholders to improve the different aspects of health and welfare of humans, animals and the environment. After short welcome speeches session by the Presidents of WVA, WMA, AMA, SVA, SMA, the Spanish Ministry representative and the FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite representative, the conference started with different sessions on:
• Zoonotic diseases.
• Antimicrobial resistance.
• Natural disaster management – Preparedness and veterinary medical collaboration.
• One Health in food production and,
· Veterinary Education of One Health Concept.
In summary:
In the introduction session, the speakers reviewed the historic evolution of medicine and veterinary medicine which had developed closely together for centuries, and even much earlier, until the two professions diverged due to specialization and consumer priorities. However, now in the 21st century, the risks have changed due to increasing population, increasing population density in urban centres, larger numbers of animals kept in close proximity, wildlife environment encroachment putting people in closer proximity to wildlife etc. which requires an integrated approach by physicians and veterinarians to combat different types of health threats.
To read complete report of the WVA/WMA Global Conference on One Health which includes the conference material and links to the presentations, see: http://www.worldvet.org/uploads/news/docs/gcoh_report_may_2015.pdf and http://www.worldvet.org/news.php?item=233#prettyPhoto.
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