Sunday Times 2
Redefining an ancient concept
The University of Peradeniya is currently gearing up for One Health International Conference, 2014, scheduled to take place on September 5 and 6, with pre-conference workshops organised for September 4. All eight faculties of the University have been involved in planning the conference which is geared towards introducing definitions, concepts, and basic theories in the One Health approach to global health, and much more.
One Health is a new phrase for an ancient concept, that of the interdependency of human, animal and environmental health.
Prof. Malik Peiris, well known for his genius in the academic field including isolation of the SARS virus, is to be the Chief Guest at the One Health conference in Peradeniya. As he points out, “Many of the major challenges we currently face locally or globally are not amenable to mono-disciplinary solutions.” The threats posed globally by emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola, MERS and avian influenza as well as those experienced locally (for example the chronic kidney disease currently prevalent in the North Central Province), are proof that the health of our environment is deeply linked with that of our species and others.
“Of 1,415 infectious agents identified over the last decade, 868 (61%) were classified as zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted between animals and people,” said Michael Wilkes, Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, in a document addressed to USAID. “The magnitude of the threat that zoonotic diseases pose exemplifies why One Health efforts are vital.”
The University of California, Davis, is a major player in the current One Health conversation, its One Health Institute at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine being one of the world’s leading establishments in the area. One Health International Conference 2014 is in fact a collaborative effort of the University of California, Davis and the University of Peradeniya. The organisers aim, in creating such a collaboration, to introduce to conference participants, leaders in the field of global health and One Health projects and research, opportunities and threats to multi-disciplinary collaborative approaches to improving global health and potential solutions to complex problems affecting human and animal health and the environment.
Scientists from countries around the globe, including China, the US, UK, Japan and Australia, representing diverse fields – medicine, veterinary science, agriculture, physical and environmental sciences and the humanities will come together at this forum, alongside policy-makers and NGOs, to navigate the interface of human, animal and environmental health. Presentations will focus on overcoming barriers to interdisciplinary research and collaboration within current health and academic systems, while the forum itself will be an opportunity to create networks and community systems that will negotiate these barriers.
Bringing all its diverse academic departments together at this venture, the University of Peradeniya hopes to establish itself as an education hub for One Health in Asia, identifying itself as an “ideal breeding ground” for the task.
But as Peiris points out, it is not an easy task. “While the concept of “One Health” is easy to espouse in name, it is very hard to implement in practice,” he writes. “One health demands a change in culture, a change in “ownership” and may be perceived to lead to loss of identity, loss of resources and loss of control.” In a bid to bring different “fields” of study together to make the planet a healthier place, each group of specialists must give up their claim to certain types of knowledge, and allow others to invade their zones of expertise and shift and remold settled patterns of understanding.
“The successful implementation of “One Health” on the other hand,” Peiris continues, “leads to new partnerships, collaborations, and new and sustainable solutions. It requires a major change in mind-set and training. But it is clearly the way forward.”
| “One Health International Conference 2014″ programme
Pre Conference Workshops – September 4, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya (limited space) |