One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, plants, animals and ecosystems.

FAO promotes a One Health approach as part of agrifood system transformation for the health of people, animals, plants and the environment. This involves a spectrum of actors and work on sustainable agriculture, animal, plant, forest, and aquaculture health, food safety, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), food security, nutrition and livelihoods.

Ensuring a One Health approach is essential for progress to anticipate, prevent, detect and control diseases that spread between animals and humans, tackle AMR, ensure food safety, prevent environment-related human and animal health threats, as well as combatting many other challenges.

One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems. It recognizes the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and inter-dependent.

The approach mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development. OHHLEP One Health definition

nl

Subscribe to the FAO One Health newsletter

Community of Practice
Communities of Practice

These Communities of Practice give people interested in One Health space to learn, share, generate, exchange, discuss and refine knowledge and evidence.

Highlights
Photo credit-Saikat:FAO
Rx Vision: An artificial intelligence enabled digital tool helping promote responsible antibiotic use in Bangladesh
05/10/2026

FAO Bangladesh One Health Program developed Rx Vision – an artificial intelligence (AI) based mobile application that helps veterinary medicine sellers...

El Nino threats become reality
02/10/2026

As El Nino threats become reality, One Health unites Pacific countries across sectors to address health, environmental and climate threats.

Upcoming events
18/11/2026 - 24/10/2026

World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign to raise awareness and increase understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to promote global action to tackle the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.

Hybrid Event, 03/11/2026

One Health recognizes that the health of people, animals, plants and ecosystems is closely linked and interdependent. It provides an integrated approach to addressing shared health challenges, including infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety, biodiversity loss and pollution.

FAO recognizes Indonesia’s zoonosis cadre programme for advancing One Health
29/09/2026

FAO recognized Indonesia’s Zoonosis Cadre programme for its innovation in advancing the One Health approach and strengthening community-based zoonosis...

© FAO/Ivan Barros
Highlights
Can the way we produce food influence the next pest or disease breakout?
25/09/2026

The way crops and livestock are produced can also influence the conditions in which pests and diseases emerge, spread and evolve.

dog
Highlights
A decade of working together towards a world free from dog-mediated human rabies
25/09/2026

Rabies is one of the world’s oldest known diseases – and one of its most preventable. Yet it still claims an estimated 59 000 human lives every year.