One Health in an Era of Climate Change

It has been established that One Health is not new but it has only become more imminent and urgent in recent times; so is climate change, which is said to be one of the greatest threats to humankind in the twenty first century.

Did you know that climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health? – (clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter). The WHO projects that, between the year 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 25,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report in 2014, there’s been a warming planet since the 1950s, with increased temperatures of the atmosphere and the oceans. Rising sea levels, diminishing amount of ice and snow, an increased frequency of extreme weather patterns, droughts, floods and heat waves are all evidence of the changing climate.

One health has progressed from a focus on emerging infectious diseases to a broader set of challenges that include food security and food safety; these interact with climate change, a so-called ‘wicked problem’ that has links to all human activity. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier that interacts both directly and indirectly with variables such as disease, food production, food security, food safety and poverty.   

 

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Changes in one or more climate variables, such as temperature, precipitation, wind, and sunshine, may have an impact on disease causing organisms (pathogens) and hosts' survival, reproduction, and spread, as well as the availability and modes of transmission. Changes in the spatial and seasonal patterns of human infectious illnesses, as well as differences in the rate of occurrence and severity of outbreaks, are common health consequences of such impacts.

 

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Climate change will have an impact on the food production and consumption chain. Climate change will have an impact on crops, feed production, and livestock output, particularly in the short term, due to extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. Agriculture, of course, contributes to climate change. For example, ruminant digestion, rice farming, land removal (particularly deforestation), fuel consumption, and fertilizer manufacturing all emit greenhouse gases.

 

Climate change is a worldwide health issue that has a number of negative health consequences that could be avoided in many circumstances if sufficient action is taken.
However, in order to achieve the desired effects, a multi-sectoral strategy is required, and preventive interventions must be designed in a coordinated manner across many sectors.