Homme Animaux
30/10/2024
Animal health and welfare
Occupational health
Environmental health
Plant health

One Health for living beings and ecosystems

The One Health concept aims to promote a multidisciplinary, holistic approach to health issues. Where did this approach come from and what does it involve? How does ANSES apply it when carrying out its activities?

What does the "One Health" approach mean and what are the issues involved?

One Health considers the complex links between animal health, human health and the environment as part of a holistic approach to health issues. Following on from the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently the various Mpox crises, discussions on how to better prevent and prepare for new infectious health crises have shown that it is also important to look at the environmental factors involved.

The "One Health" high-level group bringing together experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) gives this definition of the One Health concept: "One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems. It recognizes the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment [...] are closely linked and inter-dependent. The approach mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development".

How old is the One Health approach?

Although the principle has been around for longer, the One Health concept has been promoted since the early 2000s. It has grown in line with increasing awareness of the close links between human health, animal health and the overall state of the environment, as well as the need to decompartmentalise health approaches.

In particular, it gave rise to a tripartite agreement signed in 2010 by the WHO, WOAH and FAO, and then a quadripartite memorandum of understanding in 2022 between the WHO, WOAH, FAO and UNEP.

What are the main themes of ANSES's work on One Health?

ANSES's missions encompass animal and plant health, food safety and environmental risks. The One Health approach is therefore an integral part of its work. In order to break down scientific barriers to health approaches, the scientists working at the Agency and those consulted for its expert committees are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds: veterinarians, doctors, pharmacists, engineers and researchers in epidemiology, genetics, ecotoxicology, chemistry, physics, hydrology, human and social sciences, etc.

Many of the themes covered by the Agency involve One Health. They include:

  • Vectors: certain insects and mites transmit pathogens to humans, animals or plants. The Agency is particularly interested in emerging pests. Climate change promotes the adaptation of certain pathogen vectors to new geographical areas, and leads to the emergence in Europe of new pathogens that threaten animal or human health. The Agency has carried out an expert appraisal on the risk and impact of pathogens transmitted by the tiger mosquito in mainland France and another on the risks to human and animal health from ticks of the genus Hyalomma in France.
  • Zoonoses: 60% of infectious diseases are common to humans and animals and 75% of emerging infectious diseases are of animal origin. Human activity plays a major role in the spread of these diseases. The growth in the world's population and in the number of domestic animals combined with the increase in transport have facilitated the spread of pathogens. At the same time, environmental degradation, deforestation and the development of cities worldwide have promoted contact between wild animals, farm animals and humans, enabling diseases to be transmitted more readily.
  • Antimicrobial resistance: the Agency monitors and studies antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals and food. It also monitors the use of veterinary antimicrobials. This work contributes to the worldwide fight against antimicrobial resistance.
  • Plant health: plant parasites, plants that compete with crops and invasive plants not only jeopardise the health of infected plants, crop yields and biodiversity in natural environments, they can also be harmful to human health, by causing respiratory diseases or allergies, or because of their stinging or toxic properties.
  • Climate change: ANSES studies how new environmental conditions caused by climate change affect the health of animals and plants. It has also carried out expert appraisals on the impact of global warming on worker health and on the health and environmental risks of the reuse of wastewater in response to the increasing scarcity of water resources.
  • Exposome: this encompasses all the non-genetic risk factors for health by studying the totality of exposure to which a human is subjected throughout their lifetime. ANSES has begun work to take better account of the exposome in its activities, particularly in risk assessment. It also funds research projects on the subject through the National Research Programme for Environmental and Occupational Health.
  • Bee health: many different factors impact the health of bees, including pathogens, predators, biodiversity, environmental changes, nutritional conditions and exposure to plant protection products.
  • Applying the One Health approach requires the use of big data: ANSES has therefore launched several projects to cross-reference data collected on human and animal health and on the environment. This requires the development of IT systems capable of handling large quantities of data, better exchange of data between public bodies, and the development of methodologies and indicators for cross-checking these data.

What are the main One Health projects and partnerships in which ANSES is involved?

ANSES is or has been involved in several programmes relating to One Health that influence many of its teams' research projects:

  • PARC (2022-2029): the European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals is seeking to develop next-generation chemical risk assessment, integrating both human health and the environment, in a One Health approach. It is being coordinated by ANSES and brings together 200 partners from 29 countries, as well as the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Environment Agency (EEA).
  • European Joint Programme (EJP) on One Health (2018-2023): this programme brought together 44 partners from 22 European countries and was coordinated by ANSES. It aimed to acquire new knowledge in the areas of foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious risks. It provided funding for 31 scientific projects.
  • DIM1Health (2017-2021) and DIM1Health 2.0 (2021-2030): this field of major interest (DIM) is funded by the Ile-de-France Region. It was initiated and is being coordinated by ANSES, and brings together several animal and human health research teams in the region. The Agency continues to be extensively involved in DIM1Health 2.0.

 

A European association to promote One Health

Following the end of the One Health EJP, the programme's partner organisations created the European One Health Association (EOHA), bringing together 33 organisations in 18 countries. Its headquarters are at ANSES, which is a founding member. EOHA's aim is to become a major player in promoting the One Health concept in Europe, particularly by strengthening this approach's environmental dimension.

The association ensures that the results of the One Health EJP are disseminated and used by stakeholders. It also helps to promote operational implementation of the One Health approach in Europe, working closely with the five European agencies (ECDC, EFSA, EEA, EMA and ECHA) and the international agencies involved (WHO, FAO, WOAH and UNEP). The association also contributes to One Health initiatives under way in Europe, particularly some of the partnerships supported by the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

In 2025, the EOHA will implement the One Health Strengthening Europe (OHSE) initiative, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health and coordinated by the Netherlands Institute for Public Health (RIVM). The aim of this initiative is to organise workshops in the European Union and in peripheral European countries, on various themes related to the One Health approach. ANSES will be one of the organisers of these scientific workshops.

The Agency has forged numerous national and international partnerships with institutions and research organisations in the fields of animal, human and environmental health. Its national reference laboratories for animal health and food safety work closely with the national reference centres for human health. The Agency also has reference mandates from the WHO, FAO and WOAH.

ANSES sits on the committee of the One Health Institute, led by the University of Lyon 1 and attached to the EID@Lyon University Research School. This institute was launched on 1 October 2024 with the aim of raising awareness and training public and private decision-makers in the One Health approach, particularly with regard to emerging infectious diseases.

The Agency is involved in the working groups of the government’s Environmental Health Group. The purpose of this national consultative body is to coordinate actions at national and local level relating to health and the environment as part of a One Health approach. It brings together representatives of the State, parliamentarians, local authorities, associations and companies.

ANSES is a member of the Prezode international initiative, which was launched in 2021. Its aim is to understand the risks of emergence of infectious zoonotic diseases, and to develop and implement innovative methods to improve prevention and early detection of these emerging threats.