Experts Call for Enhanced Cooperation Between Human, Animal and Environmental Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the world's global health security networks. A global -One Health- approach is crucial for preventing, monitoring and responding to future public health emergencies. This is argued by the authors of a four paper Series published yesterday in The Lancet. Swiss TPH, with its longstanding expertise in One Health, contributed to this Series. In The Lancet Series on One Health and Global Health Security, the authors call for increased investment in the One Health approach, especially for interventions to prevent health emergencies. Billions of US dollars per year are required to make a real impact on prevention and preparedness globally - a small fraction of the cost of responding and recovering from a global health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. Jakob Zinsstag, Head of the Human and Animal Health unit at Swiss TPH and lead-author of the first paper in the Series said: -There is clear evidence of the benefits in terms of human and animal lives saved and financial savings from working closely together on health at the human-animal-environment interface.