ONE HEALTH APPROACH: THE NEED OF THE HOUR
Shaktiranjan Panigrahy
Assistant Professor, International Agribusiness Management Institute, Anand Agricultural University
Once, the greatest genius and scientist, Albert Einstein stated that everyone needs to do something for the welfare of the society in compensation to free sunshine and free air that they enjoy as nothing will be free forever in this earth. In that time, many people might not be aware about the importance of this statement, but its gravity was so much intent that it was observed in the draft of the policy makers in sustainable development goal (2015) without which existence will be a doubtful connotation in this earth. Can anyone believe few years back to carry water with him to go anywhere? Now, we know the importance of oxygen during the time of COVID and the fatalities went after in its absence. It is not only about the individual or the human being but the complete evolutional script that could not be outlined without other living and nonliving elements on this earth. While human being is the greatest creation of the God at this juncture, animals (domestic and wild), plants and their interactions among them fit the nuts and bolts of the life in this earth. According to the scientist, Darwin, we as human being survive in this earth only due to two things, ‘Flexibility and Foresightedness’ that compel to bring my thought on “one health approach: the need of the hour” in the advent of 21st century while increasing population and their growing demand impacts on soil, water, air and ultimately health of the poor fellow like him in different ways. According to Marshallian theory when population grows to a limit uncontrollable, nature settles everything through different natural calamities, but its gravity is very much painful. So, we should plan everything in before to make our ecosystem a place of life that flourish forever.
Health comprises integration and intersection of physical, mental, and social embodies that make human being sound in its horizon; fail in any aspect cut off him from the real world. This is a very challenging aspect to restore a healthy environment in resource crunch situations. Even today, there is a clear-cut demarcation of resource endowment between developed and developing counties with their population parameter. While undue industrialization pollutes the environment in developed countries, in the similar juncture growing population, livestock, hinterland culture, and unplanned urbanization impact on socio-economic threshold of the developing countries. In the globalized world, we all are connected with internet and disconnected with sentiments. It is easier to reach to moon and difficult to reach to neighbor. Technology dents the normalcy, needs to bring solution in this direction for restoring sound health with mind in these changing dynamics of real world.
One health concept finds its importance after COVID 19 pandemic, a crisis that brings human, animal and climate to one podium. Pandemic chapter was full of depression and desperation. People connect more with animals to overcome from their loneliness. Series of lockdown and short down revive climatic disequilibrium. People, philosophers, and policymakers suspect this new way of life as the sequel of disaster and expect a proper planning in all the stakeholders’ level to overcome any such instances in future to come. Can anyone guess that about 60 percent of diseases to human are coming from animal reservoirs? Examples are so many like Hantavirus, Westnile virus, SARS, Hendra virus, Zinka virus and now it is Corona virus. Closeness to animals and improper way of keeping them with us create an environment of zoonotic diseases in which both animals and human beings are at stake in coming days. Even growing consumption pattern of processed food, poor supply chain management, substandard quality assurance practices, unhygienic food consumption and disposal need a proper attention for safeguarding health related issues at all spheres. For definite interactions and interventions in these aspects, we need to develop a proper ecosystems for animals and human beings, but tragedy is that we are somehow ignorant and illusive about climatic signals that came from many corners of the world like Australia and California forest fires where so many non-humane causalities occurs due to climatic changes and disturbances. So, before restoring the earth for better place to live on, we need to identify different leakages and loopholes for polluting the planet that drags attention towards restore them with technological interventions.
Let’s reverse back to our primitive civilization started at the bank of river, agriculture, dog, goat and sanctity of beauty and serenity. Those days we transformed ourselves from hunter gather to cultivator. Necessity and need travel with us in the industrial revolution days in eighteenth century, management models and principles in nineteenth century, and technological days in twentieth century to tackle population pressure on the earth. Human being places their pace as the best creature in God creation surpassing other nonhuman creature. Deforestation, land and water degradation, eutrophication along with growing demand from each corner of the society both from living and nonliving substances trumps the battle from one health to ecohealth and then to planet health in the 21st century. Sorry to say but it is true that top ten items collected from the oceans are cigarette butts, plastic beverage bottles, food wrappers, plastic bottle caps, straws and stirrers, plastic bags, glass beverage bottles, plastic grocery bags, metal bottle caps, and plastic lids. All these substances, approaches, and anticipations bring UN declared sustainable development goal in 2015 across the nations. Whether it is millennium development goal or sustainable development goal, health was considered as a prime importance as an agenda to think over, irrespective of demographic strata and geographical boundaries. Malnutrition, under nutrition, hypoprotemia, and now it is over nutrition among communities take us to introspect our policy execution in spite of sound agricultural production across the countries. It is not about food or nutritional crisis that needs to tackle down but about ponder of pandemic that came as another deterrent for the civilized world. We see the agony of developed countries in the corona crisis in spite of their resources they had. A hapless and hopeless situation brings all the policy makers to a common podium to think over it.
To understand the one health paradigm, it is quite obvious to understand the developmental process on which civilized world moves on and probable strategy to overcome from this. While growing population demands more food, clothes and shelters in their disposal, meanwhile it brings climatic disequilibrium in the form of ozone depletion, hike in temperature, cyclones, floods, drought, hike in humidity, and many more. Irregularity and Irresponsive climatic variations generate amicable surroundings for virus and bacteria to have their heaven in the earth. We use inorganic ingredients for increasing our agricultural production and simultaneously disturb the ecosystem and ecology of other substances that live on the same resources. It is observed that animals depend on the chemical filled grass and fodder act as a carrier of chemical ingredients in the food chain of both human and nonhuman entities. Report says, to feed 9 billion populations in the time of 2050, some of them need to convert ourselves from vegetarian to nonvegetarian segments. Even it will be a very daunting task to grow more food from the shrinkage resources in the advent of climatic challenges and natural resource deteriorations. Stubble burn, methane emission from agriculture and livestock, depletion of nonrenewable resources, hybridization agriculture, single resource use pattern, and growing land fragmentations are some of the challenges, we are going to face in coming future that will definitely impact on our health and the stability of the ecosystem on this earth.
Some of the interventions and strategies to settle and resettle one health approach in the world; more particularly in Indian context are revealed for the welfare of the society at a bit faster rate in these days after 75 years of independence. But, semblance is not so easy in a populous country like India where demographic dividend are so much diverged and dispersed. Government shows some aggressive steps to develop institutions of health care across the country though Aayushman Bharat Yojana, but issues of institutions could not solve the problems of systems in absence of infrastructures and skilled personnel like doctors. Still yet, maximum pressure was observed on tertiary health care system in absence of proper facility at primary health care at grass root level. Many private players are coming to the health care system but not so approachable, affordable and accessible to the poor people who are residing in the rural sectors. It was observed that about 38 million cumulative costs of medicines were spent by those who were below poverty level. These discrepancies between rural and urban health care system, poor demand and supply linkages make the basic fundamental of health as social concern make it jeopardize and highlight the need of universal health approach for better coverage. Issues are discussed mostly centric to availability of doctors in rural sectors. Hopefully, better amenities and avenues will be helpful to bring best brain towards grassroots benefits and make health care system more inclusive one. Besides that other aspect of health care facilities cannot be ignored like, health literacy, empowerment of women communities, immunization, train personnel (nurse), and insurance will fit one health approach a symbol of benefit for the society. Delhi government’s neighborhood clinic (mahala clinic) and central based Modi care facilities are some of the innovative and inclusive health care system need to be replicated for the welfare of the communities. Once during late 70’s, the then government overcame from iodine deficiency in the country by marketing of iodized salt through various means. This sort of intervention may be taken by the government to address the issues behind application of one health concept in pan India basis.
To address the issues in medical care system and to establish one health care in pan India platform, it is a dire need to strengthen healthcare which will be more resilient and enable for the stakeholders. For that sake, we need to approach both physical and virtual health care and for which we need well equipped infrastructure and personnel (doctors, nurses) who are required to run that set up. All sorts of institutions like pharmaceutical, research, diagnostic laboratories along with medical centres should be board on same podium to give service to the societies at the affordable price. We need to progress by linking both backward and forward sides of the value chain in the health care system and to do welfare of the society without compartmentalization or isolation. We reach those era where it is essential to treat the patient with more on data support mechanism rather experience of the doctors. For the same, health care system need the support of technology, software, and intellectual property right. Even, sovereignty and individuality of the patient must be safeguarded from any types of data piracy or others. Till date, health care system is more concern for increasing beds in the hospitals but now, it is more in connection with asset management, lifestyle management, disease management, virtual care, and capacity development for which we need support both from government and private front for a holistic health care efficiency with assured efficacy.
Impacts and implications of animals and livestock sectors on human front is more connected to economy than health as live and livelihood of the poor producers are more linked to them; but untargeted and unscientific production practices bring a situation of turbulence in this segments as well. So many food borne diseases are generating in those retail markets where poor people depend on it for their bread and butter. A proper surveillance and support could be a step in this direction to ensure quality milk, meat and eggs sold in those informal markets. Increased zoonotic diseases during these periods point out towards antimicrobial resistance among the livestock sectors; can be controlled through judicious use of medicines and vaccines for their betterment. Poor land scape, over grazing, soil erosion, and encroachment practices of rearing animals also bring disease transmission, economic loss and poor quality carcass on animals which has an cascading effect on the society. In a nutshell, ill status and poor use of limited resources have impact on nature and natural resource degradation and for that sake, one health programme will play a key role to connect human, animal, and their ecosystem in a holistic way.
Human being and other living substances could not exist in vacuum. Environment impacts a lot on their behavior and performances. But climate change due to human centric interference through deforestations, construction, and industrialization leads to ozone layer depletion, ocean acidification, hike in environmental temperature and loss of biodiversity. Climate change and its impact are so much vicious that it brings uneven rain, unanticipated draught, flood and public health crisis in a continual manner. Risk of hunger due to poor food supply, imbalanced natural health status of the living organisms succumb to more number of environmental refugee camps in coming days. Responses against the climate crunch in these scenario brings solution in the form of green jobs, green marketing, reduce-reuse-recycle of wastages, physical exercise, clean air generation, and natural resource preservation. Without a proper climate, earth will not be a proper place to live on and the ideology to settle one health concept will be far reach from the reality.
On a serious note, time comes now to develop a synergetic system among human, animal and climate to get sustained health benefits in this earth. There should be a holistic mechanism and symbiotic coherence both at centre and state level along with inter and intraministerial level to tackle the burning issues that compel health related problems that are coming more from an animal sources and specificity. From extraction to production then to consumption, recycling and disposal, every stages of resource utilization stages a symbiosis way of looking things are necessary that will be beneficial to all the stakeholders. No developmental phenomena should be done in compartment or isolation. Action, reaction, and counteraction must be discussed, debated, and delivered in a holistic manner. Health is that tenet of life that brings energy in work life balance. One side, while human being is centered to sound health, in the same time, animal life is more related to economic production, live and livelihood. A sound and sustained climate brings a holistic environment for dispelling health related issues in life and combat one health in one’s life by maintaining its ecosystem.
————–Thank you—————-
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