In March 2023 the heads of the Quadripartite organisations working on One Health issued a call for greater global action for a safer world. WHO describes the call as “unprecedented”. The Quadripartite comprises four main agencies collaborating to achieve aims that cannot be achieved independently. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), WHO, and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) are all participating in this union.
A statement from the Quadripartite acknowledges recent health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, mpox, Ebola outbreaks, and “continued threats of other zoonotic diseases” as well as AMR challenges, and the consequences of climate change. These elements “clearly demonstrate the need for resilient health systems and accelerate global action”.
A call to action
The statement from the Quadripartite emphasises the need for “enhanced collaboration and commitment” to “translate the One Health approach into policy action in all countries”. The leaders called for the promotion and undertaking of the following “priority actions”:
- Prioritise One Health in the international political agenda, increase understanding, and advocate for the adoption and promotion of the enhanced intersectoral health governance.
- Strengthen national One Health policies, strategies, and plans.
- Accelerate the implementation of One Health plans.
- Build intersectoral One Health workforces.
- Strengthen and sustain prevention of pandemics and health threats at source.
- Encourage and strengthen One Health scientific knowledge and evidence creation and exchange.
- Increase investment and financing of One Health strategies and plans.
“To build one healthier planet we need urgent action to galvanise vital political commitments, greater investment, and multisectoral collaboration at every level.”
How do you think these actions can be implemented at international and national levels, and what support should the Quadripartite be offering to encourage this? We look forward to hearing more about the importance of One Health approaches and how vaccination features into these at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington next week.
