The climate and biodiversity crisis triggered by human activities across the world showcase the extent to which the health of ecosystems and the planet as a whole are deeply interconnected with the health of people, animals and plants that inhabit them. To start tackling these crises, an urgent shift in our approach to the management of the health of people, animals and plants and the sustainability of the environment is needed. The ‘One Health (OH) approach’ aims to address this interconnection by uniting human, animal, plant and environmental health into a single framework that seeks to balance and optimise global wellbeing for all humans and non-humans, and our shared environments.
The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) is leading the charge through its Research and Innovation (R&I) Programme, aligning health and food systems and ecosystem sustainability across its 79 member countries.
A central part in this initiative is the project Capacitating OH in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA), an initiative, co-financed by the OACPS R&I Programme, focusing on institutionalizing and operationalizing the OH approach in twelve countries and promoting more cross-regional exchanges in Eastern and Southern Africa. The magazine also dives into the broader work done by OACPS on R&I that enables OH approaches more broadly. From zoonotic disease management to neglected and endemic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food security and environmental restoration and sustainability, and taking leadership, the journey of building resilient systems-wide health systems through collaboration and innovation is more relevant than ever.
This edition of the magazine delves into the broader implications of OH, the role of R&I in advancing this approach, and success stories, which demonstrate the power of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration.