AVMA Calls for World Health Through Collaboration

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The Executive Summary of the AVMA One Health Initiative Task Force (OHITF) report defining "One Health" and providing ground-breaking recommendations and strategic actions to support and expand the concept across all health professions, especially the veterinary and human health professions, appears in the July 15, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA).

Dr. Roger K. Mahr, Immediate Past President of the AVMA, recommended, and the AVMA Executive Board approved the establishment of the Task Force in spring 2007. Thirteen leaders from human health, public health, the environment, government and industry met to study the feasibility of a campaign designed to facilitate collaboration and cooperation among health science professionals, academic institutions, governmental agencies and industries to assess the critical global health and environmental challenges of today.

"Two facts underscore the importance of this effort," said immediate past president of the American Medical Association (AMA) and Task Force Liaison, Ronald M. Davis, MD. "Of the roughly 1,500 diseases now recognized in humans, about 60% are due to multi-host pathogens that move across species. During the past three decades, three-quarters (75%) of newly emerging human infectious diseases have been zoonotic—animal diseases transmitted to humans."

Dr. Davis added that the threat occurs when there are infected animals, susceptible human hosts, and an environment that enables the transmission of the disease.

In June 2007, the AMA House of Delegates approved a resolution directing the AMA to support the One Health Initiative promoting closer collaboration between human and veterinary medicine. The twelve recommendations, based on the findings of the OHITF during their meetings, include:

• Creation of a National One Health Commission
• Plan a One Health National Summit
• Inclusion of key One Health outcomes for listing in the strategies for Healthy People 2020 and Healthy Animals 2010.

"I consider the efforts of the task force as the first step, and perhaps most important, of the One Health Initiative," said Dr. Mahr. "It is now my fervent hope and vision that all of us as professionals engaged in the health sciences will assume our collaborative responsibility to put the proposed recommendations into action for the benefit of our global society," Dr. Mahr added.

The Task Force Report underscored the fact that partnership is critical to the success of One Health and calls for the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment.

"We are standing at the precipice of a health care transformation, where disease prevention and health promotion in people, animals and our environment have become a critical strategic need," said Dr. Lonnie King, Director, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne, and Enteric Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Chair of the Task Force.

"Every profession has its defining moments—special points in time when talented individuals work cooperatively to influence the course of events for generations to come. For veterinary medicine and the other health sciences, that time is now."

View the full OHITF report at www.avma.org/onehealth/.

Source: www.avma.org