One Health is a concept that recognizes the connection between the health of animals, people, and the environment.
I first became familiar with One Health after attending a talk at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. This talk familiarized me with One Health and its practical use for veterinary and human health professionals.
The importance of One Health lies in recognizing that the health of people, animals, and the environment is interconnected. Veterinarians and physicians have collaborated to prevent or eradicate zoonotic diseases through this concept. The goal of One Health is to bring together physicians, veterinarians, and scientists for the benefit of all.
This talk highlighted several ways that human and veterinary medicine are working together through the One Health approach:
- They are joining together to better understand common diseases affecting animals and humans
- They are doing clinical care trials of the transmission of cross-species disease
- They are developing and assessing new diagnostic tests and medicines to prevent diseases
- They are educating and informing the community through publications
- They are presenting research data through journals and conference events
Also, when I visited the Research Center in UC David, it was interesting to see how the primates were studied to better understand diseases affecting humans. Their studies focused on heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Many medicines are tested first in primates.
I believe the One Health approach is fast-growing, as data from the veterinary field is greatly helping human medicine. In the future, I would love to contribute new data to further One Health objectives. Veterinary and human fields can greatly contribute to the development of one another through this approach.
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