One Health – a broader understanding of health

    The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) advocates the One Health approach, which aims to promote people’s health worldwide and avoid crises caused by health risks such as pandemics. The One Health approach is based on the recognition that human, animal and environmental health are closely linked and interdependent. One Health aims to prevent health risks and fosters interdisciplinary cooperation, in particular between human medicine, veterinary medicine and environmental science. The goal is to create the optimum conditions for a healthy life and minimise risks by uniting these areas.

    Graphic representation of the One Health approach: One Health is at the centre and there are interdependencies between human health, animal health and a healthy natural environment.

    Graphic representation of the One Health approach: One Health is at the centre and there are interdependencies between human health, animal health and a healthy natural environment.

    The One Health approach

    Cover: Core area Health, social protection and population dynamics

    Core area: Health, social protection and population dynamics

    PDF | 07/2023 | 422 KB, 36 Pages | Accessible
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    In its Core Area Strategy “Health, social protection and population dynamics”, the BMZ set the goal of supporting the One Health approach in order to prevent and combat infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance.

    The aim is to equip Germany’s development cooperation partner countries to identify and contain infectious diseases in humans and animals at an early stage and thus reduce health risks.

    Fighting infectious diseases using the One Health approach

    Infectious diseases pose a threat for people and animals. They are a particular threat for people living in low- and middle-income countries.

    An example of this is the group of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Most of these infectious diseases can lead to death or chronic health issues and disabilities if left untreated. NTDs are not as well known as the “big four”, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and hepatitis, although they affect roughly one billion people – mainly people who are poor and without resources.

    Deficits in health care provision and hygiene practices – for example in regard to food, drinking water and slaughter waste – particularly encourage the spread of NTDs. In order to effectively prevent and fight NTDs, it is necessary to follow a One Health approach that takes account of the interfaces between humans and the organisms that transmit the diseases (so-called vectors such as mosquitoes or ticks), and ecosystems (for example swamps and lakes), food products, drinking water and climate.

    One Health: 75 per cent of newly emerging infectious diseases originate in animals. We must protect biodiversity, and human and animal health worldwide in order to avert new diseases.
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    One Health: With our Emergency COVID-19 Support Programme endowed with four billion euros, we are helping to fight the pandemic and its consequences worldwide.
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    One Health: It is estimated that wild animals carry 1.7 million unknown species of virus. Many of them can jump to humans. That is why rainforests must be protected and wildlife trade banned – for the sake of our health.
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    Action areas

    The One Health approach includes:

    We are supporting our partner countries in their efforts to include the One Health approach in their strategic planning, for example when elaborating national crisis and emergency plans.

    A Pandemic Fund hosted by the World Bank was launched in 2022, with Germany contributing 169 million euros. One Health was established as a key priority of the fund, and the majority of the projects it has supported so far have pursued this approach.

    The BMZ is also a contributor to the World Bank’s Food Systems 2030 Trust Fund. The fund supports projects which focus on the sustainable transformation of food systems and follow the One Health approach.

    The BMZ likewise contributes to a trust fund to fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The trust fund was established to support the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance and to assist Global South countries in developing their own action plans in accordance with the One Health approach.

    We are expanding our cooperation with international organisations in regard to One Health and are fostering cooperation and networking between them – for example in the form of the “Quadripartite” between the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

    We are strengthening local capacity, for example by establishing the One Health Research, Education and Outreach Centre in Africa (OHRECA) in Kenya. This centre is dedicated to improving the health of humans, animals and ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa through capacity building, strengthening networks, evidence-based policy advice and recommendations for practical application.

    Trade in wildlife and wildlife products is a major risk factor for the emergence of new infectious diseases in humans. Experts estimate that there are around 1.7 million undiscovered viruses carried by wildlife, and that up to 850,000 of these could potentially infect humans. HIV and Ebola are among the most well-known viruses that originated in animals.

    To reduce the risk of future pandemics caused by diseases spreading from wild animals to humans, in 2020 the BMZ and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUKN) initiated the 🡪 International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade. Over 120 organisations from the spheres of politics, science and civil society have since joined the platform. Experts from a variety of fields share their knowledge with the Alliance, contributing expertise from the areas of human and veterinary medicine, biodiversity conservation, ecology, political and social science and Indigenous knowledge systems.

    The Alliance uses academic findings and local knowledge to develop concrete political recommendations. It supports countries in identifying pathogens in wild animals, regulating trade in wildlife and wildlife products, developing regulations on biosecurity and epidemic control and sensitising the population to transmission risks. More information can be found here.

    The Secretariat of the Alliance was transferred from GIZ to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) in 2025.

    We are putting the One Health approach on the agenda in the development debate with the aim of raising awareness among decision-makers and the population in the Global North and South regarding important One Health topics.

    As at: 14/10/2022