On Monday 13 November, the European Environment Agency (EEA) announced the joint declaration, published the same day, of a joint commitment by the relevant EU agencies to the integrated, systemic and unified ‘One Health’ approach - promoted by the EU and the WHO to integrate animal health, human health and environmental health.
In this joint commitment, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EEA, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) consider that to guarantee health safety, it is essential to tackle the factors that degrade the environment and prevent risks at source.
The Agencies claim that the benefits of using this approach to address issues such as zoonoses and (re-)emerging infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases linked to environmental risk factors, antimicrobial resistance and climate adaptation are proven.
The ‘One Health’ approach is at the heart of the international treaty/agreement on pandemics currently under negotiation and which the EU and WHO hope will be legally binding. This treaty/agreement, which should be concluded in May 2024, aims to give the WHO the power to decide on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response measures, as part of strengthened global health governance (see EUROPE 13256/20).
The EU Agencies’ statement: https://aeur.eu/f/9j3 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)