One Health
One Health is a concept that emphasizes that “human-animal-environmental health” is interconnected as “One,” and refers to a multi-disciplinary, multi-layered cooperation strategy to secure the health of the entire ecosystem. As a new term, its scope is diverse, and various organizations around the world provide their own definitions of One Health.
| Organizations | Definitions |
|---|---|
| The World Health Organization (WHO) |
An approach that designs and implements programs, policies, laws, and research in which various sectors communicate and cooperate to improve public health, focusing on zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance management, and food safety |
| The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) |
Collaborative, international, multi-sectoral, and multidisciplinary mechanisms to reduce risk and address threats of harmful diseases in animal and human ecosystems |
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
Encouraging local, national, and global joint efforts across disciplines to achieve the best health for people, animals, and the environment |
| One Health Commission | Joint local, national, and global efforts of various health science experts with relevant fields and organizations to achieve optimal health for people, livestock, wildlife, plants, and the environment |
| One Health Global Network | Improving health and well-being by mitigating the impact of risks and crises arising from contact of humans, animals, and diverse environment |
| One Health Initiative | A global strategy to expand interdisciplinary cooperation and communication in all areas of health care for humans, animals, and the environment |
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Source: A Study on Korean One Health Promotion Plan to Secure National Health, Ministry of Health and Welfare (November 27, 2018). |
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The Health in All Policies emphasizes that “public health” should be considered as top priority when establishing policies not only in the health sector, but also in the other sectors. It underscores that health should be under a criterion in all policies and that all policies should be considered through the health-encountering view. HiAP has been defined variously as a mean to achieving the global goal of “Health for All” that all governments must achieve.
| Organizations | Definitions |
|---|---|
| World Health Organization (WHO) |
An approach to policies that systematically considers health, seeks synergy, and does not harm health outside of the purview of making and implementing policies to improve public health and health equity |
| Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health |
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| United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
A collaborative approach that integrates and links health considerations in cross-sectional policymaking to improve the health of all societies and people |
| American Public Health Association (APHA) |
An approach to promote the health of all people by integrating health considerations in each sector and policy area |
Health security is a strategy that recognizes biological threats such as emerging infectious diseases, AMR, and bioterrorism as a global security issue rather than the issue of individual countries to respond jointly in multiple fields. After the Ebola virus epidemic in 2014, the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) was formed around the US. GHSA includes a total of nine organizations - WHO, FAO, OIE, The World Bank Group, Interpol, the Economic Community of West African States, The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the European Union, and the International Vaccine Institute - and emphasizes multi-disciplinary responses through action plans and joint external evaluations.
The concept of One Health is represented by One Health, Health in All Policies, and Health Security.
| Item | Target Area | Target of Cooperation | Aim | Initiative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One Health | AMR, zoonotic diseases, and food safety | Multi-disciplinary cooperation (Centered on interdisciplinary cooperation) | Ecosystem health | Healthcare, Veterinary medicine |
| Health in All Policies | Overall government policy | Cooperation between ministries in the government | Public health | Healthcare |
| Health Security | Response to public health crisis (including chemical and radioactive accidents) | Cooperation between ministries in the government, multi-disciplinary cooperation | National security | Healthcare, National defense |