One Health Day 2024
For Better Global Health Outcomes, Join the Progress and Embrace the Change
By Chris Walzer | November 3, 2024
This year marks the 20th anniversary of a meeting of global health experts convened by Wildlife Conservation Society to formulate the Manhattan Principles — the first modern-era framing of a systems-based orientation toward health and the birth of the One Health approach.
These original principles offered 12 recommendations for a holistic approach to preventing diseases and preserving ecosystem integrity for the benefit of humans, domesticated animals, and the essential biodiversity that supports us all. Often, I must bite my tongue to avoid exclaiming loudly: “You realize it is 2024 and we are still discussing the need for a holistic approach to health today?”
I have been traveling non-stop for the past two months, meeting with colleagues from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s country programs and visiting numerous field sites where we tackle health issues at the nexus with conserving ecological integrity and the climate emergency.
The sites are very diverse. Sometimes it is a bustling hot and humid market of a large city selling live wildlife, loudly admixing it with a multitude of domestic species to create a potential cauldron of contagion. Other times, it’s a deserted and eerily silent beach littered with the carcasses of sea lions and thousands of dead pelicans — all victims of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, a viral disease that originated in, and spread through, industrial poultry plants.
“What is striking is the disjunct between ongoing work and knowledge on the ground at the frontlines of spillovers and the high-level discussions, panels, and negotiations on the various platforms.”
All the while, I have been participating in global negotiations and conferences such as the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft and negotiate a WHO agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response in Geneva, Switzerland; the World One Health congress in Cape Town, South Africa; and the Convention of Biological Diversity 16th Conference of Parties in Cali, Columbia.
These meetings tend to be characterized by a myriad of polite discussions in air-conditioned rooms with finger food around health, real and perceived gaps paired with thematic hostage-taking, and barely hidden positioning for donor support and political influence. What is striking is the disjunct between ongoing work and knowledge on the ground at the frontlines of spillovers and the high-level discussions, panels, and negotiations on the various platforms.
Let us remember that health is a fundamental human right. Unfortunately, in our Western, often-commodified approach to medicine (including veterinary medicine), the health of a patient is frequently considered in isolation from the health and wellbeing of other living organisms. A dichotomy between a human or non-human animal organism and the ecosystem is implicit.
As a holistic health practitioner, I question the assumption that the health of an organism is independent of the health of other beings and their shared social-ecological systems. The health of a living being cannot truly be adequately analyzed and understood without considering the health and wellbeing of other living beings and the systems they share. We clearly need a systems-based framing to address the systemic health crises.
Through the “One Health” approach, the interdependence of human, animal, and ecosystem health is recognized and addressed. It highlights and foregrounds the connectedness of all living beings in our shared land- and seascapes while advocating for collaborative efforts across sectors and disciplines to achieve optimal health outcomes for all.
“The health of a living being cannot truly be adequately analyzed and understood without considering the health and wellbeing of other living beings and the systems they share.”
We find ourselves in a world deeply affected by the intertwined crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and systemic health emergencies. These formidable challenges not only threaten the stability of our ecosystems and well-being but are further exacerbated by the pervasive spread of mis- and disinformation like climate change denialism and lab leak conspiracy theories. Disinformation undermines our democracies, destabilizes economies, and jeopardizes livelihoods and health.
As climate change accelerates, extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, disrupting communities and economies. Simultaneously, the rapid decline in biodiversity threatens the delicate balance of our ecosystems, reducing nature’s resilience and our ability to adapt. Health emergencies, highlighted by recent global pandemics, reveal the fragility of our interconnected systems.
To navigate these urgent challenges, we must foster informed dialogue, robust policies, and collaborative solutions that prioritize truth, transparency, and resilience. It’s 2024, and while some are still debating the need for a holistic health approach, others have been on the ground for the last 20 years, actively working, learning, and adapting. It’s time to join the progress and embrace the change.
Chris Walzer is Executive Director of Health at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society).
