UNITED NATIONS (HRNW) – UN agency chiefs issued a call on Monday for global action to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment, as part of a new “One Health” approach.
The heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN-backed World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) have come together in the face of multiple global emergencies – from COVID-19 to Ebola – continued threats of disease spillover between animals and humans, loss of biodiversity and climate change.
In a statement, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, FAO chief QU Dongyu, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, and WOHA’s head, Monique Eloit, stressed the need to prioritize “One Health” approaches, to invest in building workforces with cross-sectoral skills, and to prevent health threats at the source, with close attention paid to zoonotic diseases.