Over the past decade, a notable growth in the spread of infectious agents was observed. With the spread and evolution of epizootics, zoonoses, and epidemics, the risks of pandemics became increasingly significant. Human and animal health has also been under the risk of antimicrobial resistance, environmental pollution, and the development of multifactorial and chronic diseases. This shed light on the increasing globalisation of health risks and the significance of the human-animal-ecosystem interface in the transformation and development of pathogens. An enhanced understanding of causes and consequences of some human activities, lifestyles and behaviors in ecosystems is critical for an in-depth analysis of disease dynamics and to drive public policies. As a global good, health security must be presumed on a global scale and from a global and intersecting viewpoint, harmonising human health, animal health, plant health, ecosystems health and biodiversity.
This study will shed light on the importance of taking into account the ecological, evolutionary and environmental sciences in comprehending the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases and in addressing the challenges of antimicrobial resistance. We also examine the application of the “One Health” approach to non-communicable chronic diseases connected to the susceptibility of various stresses, including toxic stress and new lifestyles. Finally, we identified a list of barriers that require elimination and the desires that we must nurture for the effective application of the “One Health” approach. We conclude that the success of this One Health approach now needs the disintegration of interdisciplinary barriers that still divide human and veterinary medicine from ecological, evolutionary and environmental sciences. The establishment of integrative approaches should be advocated by connecting the study of factors underlying stress responses to their consequences on ecosystem functioning and evolution. This knowledge is needed for the establishment of innovative control methods inspired by environmental mechanisms leading to preferred equilibrium and dynamics in healthy ecosystems and must contribute in the near future a model for more cohesive operational initiatives.
Join us in the upcoming QS WorldClass 2019 under the theme of “One Health: University-Industry Collaboration in Medical Technology and Beyond” from 12-14 June 2019 in Hong Kong.