FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

In the Asia Pacific region, there is already substantial commitment to One Health, an integrated approach that calls for increased multidisciplinary and intersectoral cooperation, capacity development and communication to address various issues regarding animal, plant and human health with relevant environmental issues. In addition, several more technical areas including food security, sustainable nutrition, food safety, ecosystems, trade and food standard settings have been identified as key areas that significantly benefit from One Health.

Countries in the region have expressed the need to build on what is already in place, by involving all relevant stakeholders at various levels, considering key factors including gender dimensions.

One Health

What is One Health?

One Health is an integrated approach for preventing and mitigating health threats at the Animal-Human-Plant-Environment interfaces with the objective of achieving public health, food and nutrition security, sustainable ecosystems and fair trade facilitation.

One Health challenges

With rapid population growth, globalization and environmental degradation, health threats have become more complex. Solutions cannot be found by one sector alone. The One Health approach leverages the idea that problems impacting human health, terrestrial and aquatic animals, plants and the environment can be effectively resolved through improved coordination, communication and collaborative actions across disciplines and that these solutions be sustainable.

Benefits of One Health

Governance and coordination mechanisms of the One Health approach ensure a coordinated effective way for addressing cross-cutting problems.

Knowledge management and awareness raising within the One Health approach contribute to consistent and synergetic decision-making, avoidance of gaps and duplication of effort.

Examples of cross-cutting topics and effective results observed through One Health:

  • Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and other pandemic threats
  • Endemic zoonotic diseases as brucellosis, rabies and anthrax
  • Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
  • Food safety (chemical, biological and physical contaminants throughout the food chain)
  • Trade facilitation and sustainability (import and export)
  • Waste management