ICMR’s International Symposium on “One Health” in India

What is the News? Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare chairs ICMR’s International Symposium for one health in India.

About ICMR’s International Symposium

• ICMR’s Indian Journal of Medical Research: The journal discusses the One Health approach.
• The title of this symposium is ‘One Health in India: Research informing biosafety, preparedness, and response’.
• Committee on Eco-Health Initiatives: A high-level steering committee for Eco-Health Initiatives in India was announced. This committee will have its secretariat hosted at the ICMR. It will be supported by the upcoming National Institute of One Health which is planned to be set up in Nagpur.

About One Health:

• It is an approach that recognizes that the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems are interconnected.
• Hence, it involves applying a coordinated and multidisciplinary approach at the local, regional, national and global levels. It will address potential or existing risks that originate at the animal-human ecosystems interface.

Importance of Approach:

• The approach is important because many times the same microbes infect animals and humans as they share the ecosystems they live in. Hence, efforts by just one sector cannot prevent or eliminate the infection.
• Examples:
  • Rabies in humans can be effectively prevented only by targeting the animal source of the virus (for example, by vaccinating dogs).
  • Information on influenza viruses circulating in animals is crucial to the selection of viruses for human vaccines for potential influenza pandemics.

Application areas of One Health

This approach is particularly relevant for:

• Food safety
• Control of zoonoses (diseases that can spread between animals and humans, such as flu, rabies, and Rift Valley Fever)
• Combating antibiotic resistance (when bacteria change after exposure to antibiotics and become more difficult to treat).

Examples of Approach:

• It helped discover the source of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), a highly dangerous hemorrhagic fever more threatening than COVID-19.

Source: PIB

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