Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

393 Chapter 14: Environment, Health and Wellbeing 5. One Health approach 15 Prevention measures address drivers of emerging disease such as by improving farm biosecurity, strengthening animal health veterinary services, reducing deforestation and forest degradation, improving conservation and improving urban planning. 16 www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/at-a-glance/health/cross-agency-knowledge-for-one-health-action-statement (accessed 16 July 2024). The ever-changing nature of our environment, as well as the many anthropogenic stressors placed on it, means that collaborative and cooperative action across the human–animal–environment nexus is needed to address the health challenges facing us. The One Health concept recognises that human, animal and environmental health are interlinked and interdependent, and it has become an important approach to global health. Collaboration between multiple disciplines and sectors is crucial to the success of the One Health approach. Common One Health issues include zoonotic and vector- borne diseases, food safety, AMR and environmental pollution (e.g. air, water and chemical pollution). From a global standpoint, these areas already pose a considerable threat to health; however, a number of stressors are playing a substantial role in causing or exacerbating these issues. Land use change is causing habitat shrinkage or fragmentation, narrowing the interface between humans and the natural world, thereby increasing the likelihood of infectious agents jumping the species barrier – from wild animals to domestic animals and people. Biodiversity loss means that we are losing the essential buffer and critical dilution effect that can help shield us from harmful pathogens and disease transmission. In addition, climate change is changing the distribution of arthropod vectors of infectious diseases (such as mosquitos and ticks) and changing the frequency and the pattern of other food- borne and waterborne diseases. It has been estimated that there may be up to 700,000 viruses in mammals and birds that could be transmitted to humans (UNEP, 2021b). The environment is a critical component of the One Health paradigm and functions as both a key reservoir of and a pathway for the transmission of harmful agents that can impact the health of humans and animals (Figure 14.13). There is emerging international evidence for the economic benefit of using a One Health approach. The World Bank (World Bank, 2022) estimated the global cost of prevention using a One Health approach 15 to be US$10.3–11.5 billion per year, compared with the global cost for preparedness (monitoring and detecting disease spill-over) of US$30.1 billion per year. While the environment is a core part of the One Health triad, environmental considerations are often poorly represented, if not completely overlooked, which runs counter to the principles of a true One Health approach. The role of the environment, not only as a reservoir and pathway of harmful agents but also as a key determinant of human health and wellbeing, is evident when we look at the negative impacts of an unhealthy environment on people. The quadripartite organisations – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the WHO – launched a One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022–2026) as a framework for action to advance and sustainably scale up One Health. One of the six key interdependent actions included is ‘integrating the environment into One Health’. The quadripartite group has also launched a guide that provides practical guidance for countries on how to adopt and adapt the One Health Joint Plan of Action at a national level. There is also an ambition as part of the Eighth Environment Action Programme that there is to be full integration of One Health approaches across all levels of policymaking (Decision (EU) 2022/591). At the European level, five EU agencies – ECDC, ECHA, EEA, EFSA and the European Medicines Agency – have expressed their joint commitment to fully support the One Health agenda in Europe and have established a cross-agency task force to build stronger transdisciplinary cooperation among them. 16 In a joint statement issued in 2023 (EEA, 2023f), the five EU agencies outline that a One Health approach is necessary to address the multiple challenges faced by the EU across areas of human, animal and plant health, food safety, environmental sustainability and the climate crisis. They also outlined a commitment to ensure that relevant scientific advice from EU agencies is increasingly integrated and aligned with the One Health approach. Ireland is also developing a more unified and holistic national approach to One Health with the recent establishment of a cross-government One Health Oversight Committee. It will be crucial that the work and activities of this committee ensure strong alignment with, and inclusion of, environmental considerations and actions, particularly in the context of our changing climate.