Page 10 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

Veterinary and medical professionals
call for a One Health approach to improve pandemic infection control
At a time when the world’s biodiversity is facing both a mass extinction event and an increase in emerging infections, a group of leading veterinary and medical professionals have spoken out about the need for professionals in human, animal and environmental health to function within broader multidisciplinary teams to mitigate against human pandemics and help global health.
Published in The BMJ, the group has outlined how the COVID-19 pandemic must serve as a wake-up call, with greater recognition of the critical interdependence between the health
of humans and that of animals and the environment. The One Health approach has become an important focus in
both medical and veterinary science. It promotes a ‘whole of society’ treatment of health hazards and a systemic change of perspective in the management of risk.
The COVID-19 pandemic had its origins in the natural world, most likely through transmission from bats. There must be wider recognition that the risk of pandemics is increased through
a continued failure to respect the ecological boundaries and habitats of wildlife and an inability to prevent the current accelerating environmental destruction and incursions into wilderness habitats to seek resources.
Recent research shows that the cost of preventing further pandemics over the next decade by protecting wildlife and forests equates to just two per cent of the estimated financial damage caused by COVID-19.
The group is calling for education
and training in human and veterinary medicine to more effectively embrace the concept of preventative eco-health, whereby the health of all animals (including humans) is protected through preservation of the integrity of the natural world, its services, diversity,
and natural ecological barriers. More effective collaboration in research and practice between medical and veterinary practitioners is needed, in partnership with biologists and environmentalists. Education must, therefore, equip practitioners to function effectively in this new environment, and the One Health concept must be the foundation of this integrated approach.
Camilla Benfield, Senior Lecturer in Virology at the RVC and Course Director for the MSc One Health programme, said: “COVID-19 has brought into painfully stark focus how vulnerable global society is to emerging diseases. Many human behaviours are destroying the natural world and extinguishing other species, and at the same time increasing the risk of future pandemics.
“A narrow vision of health simply increases this risk. Human health, animal health and environmental health are inextricably linked, and thinking about all components as part of a system is key to the One Health concept. It’s now a critical moment for One Health to be embedded
in education, research, policy and practice. One Health cannot be an ‘add-on’ but must be at the core of what we do as health professionals, scientists, medics and vets. The health and environmental costs of not doing so are too great.”
Alongside Dr Benfield, the group of experts calling for this change includes David Heymann, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Judy MacArthur Clark, Past-President, RCVS; Lord Trees of the House of Lords; and Babulal Sethia, Past-President, Royal Society of Medicine.
The RVC runs a joint master’s programme with LSHTM, the MSc in One Health: ecosystems, humans and animals, which provides a foundation on the principles of diseases in the context of socio-ecological systems, global health and food safety.
The full article can be read in The BMJ:
rvc.uk.com/blogs-bmj
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Dr Camilla Benfield
COVID-19 was most likely transmitted from bats