Quadripartite Call to Action for One Health for a Safer World

Recent international health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, measles, Ebola outbreaks and ongoing threats from other zoonotic diseases, food security, the challenges of antibiotic resistance (AMR), as well as ecosystem degradation and climate change clearly demonstrate the need for resilient health systems and accelerated global action. One Health is seen as a mainstream approach to addressing these pressing and complex challenges facing our society.

At their first annual face-to-face meeting today, the leaders of the Quadripartite organizations working on One Health issued an unprecedented call for increased global action.

The Quadripartite aims to achieve jointly what no single sector can achieve alone, and consists of four main agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO). and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).

A call to action

Emphasizing the need for increased cooperation and commitment to translate the One Health approach into policy action in all countries, Quadripartite leaders encourage all countries and key stakeholders to promote and undertake the following priority actions:

1. Prioritize One Health on the international political agenda, increase understanding and advocate adoption and promotion improved intersectoral health management. The One Health approach should in particular serve as a guiding principle in global mechanisms; inclusion in the new instrument to fight the pandemic and the pandemic fund to strengthen prevention, preparedness and response to the pandemic;
2. Strengthen national One Health policies, strategies and plans, determines costs and sets priorities in accordance with the Quadripartite One Health Joint Action Plan (OH JPA), in order to encourage wider implementation in relevant sectors and at all levels;
3. Accelerate the implementation of One Health plans, including supporting national One Health governance and multisectoral coordination mechanisms, developing situation analyses, stakeholder mapping, setting priorities and metrics for One Health monitoring and evaluation frameworks;
4. Build a cross-sector One Health workforce who have the skills, capacities and capabilities to prevent, detect, control and respond to threats to health in a timely and effective manner, by strengthening joint initial and continuing education for the human, animal and environmental health workforce;
5. Strengthen and maintain the prevention of pandemics and health threats at sourcetargeting activities and places that increase the risk of zoonotic transmission from animals to humans;
6. Encourage and strengthen the creation and exchange of One Health scientific knowledge and evidence, research and development, technology transfer and sharing and integration of information and data and facilitating access to new tools and technologies; and
7. Increase investment and financing One Health strategy and plans ensuring expanded enforcement at all levels, including funding for prevention of health threats at source.

In order to build a healthier planet, we need urgent action to encourage vital political commitments, greater investment and multi-sector cooperation at all levels.

Quadripartite played a central role in promoting and coordinating the global One Health approach, in line with the OH JPA^[1] which was launched in October 2022. To further support countries and governments in putting the One Health approach into practice, Quadripartite partners are developing an OH JPA implementation guide to be published in 2023.

Signed by:

QU Dongyu, Director General, FAO

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO

Monique Eloit, CEO, WOAH