Quadripartite – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE), and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently launched a new One Health Joint Plan of Action.

Apparently, the first joint plan initiated for One Health aims to develop a framework to deploy systems and capacity to jointly predict, prevent, detect, and respond to health threats in a better way.

Eventually, this initiative is intended to improve the health of humans, plants, animals, and the environment whilst contributing to sustainable development.

Developed by a participatory process, the One Health Joint Plan of Action offers activities that seek to strengthen collaboration, capacity building, communication, and coordination across all the sectors that cater to health concerns at the human-animal-plant-environment interface.

Notably, this five-year plan (2022-2026) focuses on expanding and supporting capacities in six areas: One Health capacities for health systems, endemic zoonotic, emerging and re-emerging zoonotic epidemics, food safety risks, neglected tropical and vector-borne diseases, as well as antimicrobial resistance and environment. 

As per reports, this technical document is outlined by evidence, best practices, and guidance and encompasses a set of actions aimed at advancing One Health at the global, regional, and national levels.

The upcoming development of implementation guidelines for countries, international partners, and non-state actors such as professional associations, civil society organizations, academia, and research institutions are some of the actions included in this plan.

Some of the operational goals set in the plan include the following –

• Providing an accessible framework for coordinated and collective action for mainstreaming the One Health approach at all levels
• Developing an upstream policy as well as technical assistance and legislative advice to assist in setting up national priorities and targets, and
• Promoting multinational, multidisciplinary, multi-sector collaboration, learning and exchange of knowledge, solutions, and technologies.

Reportedly, it will also encourage the values of multisectoral action, cooperation and shared responsibility, partnership, gender equity, and inclusiveness.

Source credit - https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/one-health-joint-plan-action-address-health-threats-humans-animals