Happy One Health Day!
Today, November 3rd 2018, marks the third annual One Health Day, a global campaign that answers the urgent need for a One Health trans-disciplinary approach towards solving today’s critical global health challenges. It is a timely initiative that gives scientists and advocates a powerful voice for moving beyond current provincial approaches to emerging zoonotic infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, environmental pollution, food safety, comparative/translational medicine and many other problems, to a holistic default way of doing business.
In order to celebrate One Health Day, we created the campaign called #OhSnap. This phrase is used to show a surprise or shock emotion related to various situations/facts/ related to One Health. This campaign hopes to increase the awareness of wider community, not only people from health background but also those with different education background, to One Health Day and also spread the value of One Health: Collaboration.
How is One Health Day celebrated across the world?
The One Health Commission, One Health Initiative and One Health Platform Foundation celebrated One Health Day through a symposium held on November 1 – 2, 2018 at The Ohio State University. This event will bring together multiple disciplines working locally, nationally and globally to address the spread of disease, promote health and emphasize the connection among humans, animals and the environment.he The goal of One Health Day is to bring attention around the world to the need for One Health interactions and for the world to ‘see them in action’.
Guinea marked One Health Day on November 3, 2017 in a small forum by sharing the Executive Order establishing the country’s One Health platform. Ms. Aissatou Baldé, the Minister of Environment, Water and Forestry (MEEF), read a Declaration on One Health in the presence of national and international partners and to members of the press. Afterwards, she expressed her continued support to all partners and organizations in implementing One Health for the safety of Guinea and the world.
Sierra Leone held its first One Health day celebration on November 3rd with a goal of encouraging strong leadership and engagement from the government in order to maintain the momentum over the One Health approach. The newly institutionalized One Health Platform organized a One Health Coordination Committee Meeting to mark this year’s One Health day which would further the activities of the One Health Platform in the country. They agreed to share more information on the One Health approach and ongoing One Health activities in the country to a wider audience. This event was a step forward in sensitizing the people of Sierra Leone to the platform and its functionality.
By the way, have you checked out the amazing revelation of #OhSnap? Click indohun.org/ohsnap to join the fun!