The Indian government recently launched two initiatives, the Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI) and the World Bank-funded Animal Health System Support for One Health (AHSSOH) project, as part of the National One Health Mission. The aim is to address the risks posed by the inter-compartmental spread of diseases in a country with diverse wildlife, a large livestock population, and high-density human population.
Why is this needed?
The Covid pandemic, recent outbreaks of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle, and the constant threat of Avian Influenza highlight the importance of addressing not just diseases from a human health point of view (zoonosis) but also the livestock and wildlife aspects. This presents an opportunity to leverage the complementarity and strengths inherent in each sector to devise integrated, robust, and agile response systems.
Animal Health System Support for One Health (AHSSOH)
The AHSSOH project aims to create an ecosystem for a better animal health management system using the One Health approach. It will be implemented in five states and improve the capacity building of stakeholders involved in animal health and disease management. The project calls for participation by the Human Health, Forest and Environment Department at the national, regional as well as local levels to create and strengthen the One Health architecture including community engagement. The collaborative project will be implemented over a five-year period as a Central sector scheme with a financial provision of Rs. 1228.70 Cr.
Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI)
The APPI will create an “integrated disease reporting system for enhanced surveillance of zoonotic and other animal diseases.” The key activities under APPI which are at different stages of execution include defining joint investigation and outbreak response teams (National & state), designing an overall integrated disease surveillance system, strengthening the regulatory system, creating disease modelling algorithms and early warning systems, strategizing disaster mitigation with the National Disaster Management Authority, initiating targeted R&D to develop vaccines/diagnostics/therapies for priority diseases, and building genomic and environmental surveillance methods to improve the timeliness and sensitivity of disease detection.
What is One Health?
One Health is an integrating idea that brings different sectors together to solve the health, productivity, and conservation challenges and has major implications for India. WHO formed a One Health Initiative to integrate work on human, animal, and environmental health across the Organization. WHO is also working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as a One Health Quadripartite.
Present Scenario in India
The Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) approved the establishment of a National One Health Mission with a cross-ministerial effort to coordinate, support, and integrate all the existing One Health activities in the country and fill gaps where appropriate. The Mission aims to achieve overall pandemic preparedness and integrated disease control against priority diseases of both human and animal sectors, with early warning systems built on integrated surveillance systems and response readiness for endemic as well as emerging epidemic or pandemic threats.
Challenges
There are challenges in implementing the One Health approach, including the absence of standardized methods to measure the complexity of the benefits achieved, lack of systematic methodology to prove the nature of health impacts across the animal and human health sectors, and lack of agreement in leadership issues, resource allocation, and work distribution.
Why In News
The Indian government has launched two initiatives, namely the “Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI)” and the World Bank-funded “Animal Health System Support for One Health (AHSSOH)” project, under the National One Health Mission.
MCQs about One Health Implementation in India
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Which organization launched the “Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI)” and the “Animal Health System Support for One Health (AHSSOH)” project?
A. The United Nations
B. The World Health Organization
C. The World Bank
D. The government
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What is the primary goal of the One Health approach?
A. To promote animal health only
B. To promote human health only
C. To promote the health of both humans and animals
D. To promote environmental health only
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What is the significance of zoonotic diseases?
A. They only affect animals
B. They only affect humans
C. They can affect both animals and humans
D. They are not infectious diseases
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What is the role of the Animal Husbandry Department in the One Health approach?
A. To provide healthcare services to animals
B. To promote animal husbandry practices
C. To monitor and control zoonotic diseases
D. To promote environmental conservation
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