Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
One Health Concept
"An integrated, unifying approach that recognises the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems are interconnected and must be addressed holistically to prevent and respond to health threats."
The One Health concept is an integrated approach to health that recognises that human health, animal health (domestic and wildlife), and environmental/ecosystem health are inextricably interconnected and interdependent. Health threats that emerge at the human-animal-environment interface — such as zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted from animals to humans), antimicrobial resistance (AMR), food safety, and environmental contamination — can only be effectively addressed by breaking down silos between human medicine, veterinary science, ecology, and environmental management. The concept was formally endorsed at the international level in 2004 and gained major momentum after the SARS outbreak (2003), H5N1 avian influenza (2005), and the COVID-19 pandemic (2019-). Approximately 60-70% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin — they jump from animals (bats, birds, rodents, livestock) to humans. COVID-19 (bat origin), SARS (civet cat), MERS (camel), Nipah (fruit bats), Ebola (bats/primates), and H5N1 (birds) are all zoonotic. The Quadripartite partnership — WHO, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation), UNEP (UN Environment Programme), and WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health, formerly OIE) — jointly leads the global One Health agenda. India established the One Health Consortium in 2021, co-led by ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), and DBT (Department of Biotechnology). India's National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) is a key One Health initiative.
Important for UPSC GS3 Science and Technology, Environment, and GS2 Health Policy. COVID-19 pandemic-related questions frequently invoked One Health framing. Prelims: Quadripartite (WHO, FAO, UNEP, WOAH); India's One Health Consortium; NAP-AMR. Mains: One Health as a framework for pandemic preparedness, AMR (critically important for India which is the world's largest consumer of antibiotics), food safety, and wildlife conservation (disease spillover from wildlife to humans).
- 1 One Health: human health + animal health + ecosystem health are interconnected
- 2 Endorsed by Quadripartite: WHO, FAO, UNEP, WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health)
- 3 60-70% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic (animal to human transmission)
- 4 Major zoonotic diseases: COVID-19, SARS, MERS, Nipah, Ebola, H5N1 avian flu
- 5 India's One Health Consortium (2021): ICAR + ICMR + DBT co-led
- 6 India's NAP-AMR: National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance — a One Health initiative
- 7 AMR: overuse of antibiotics in humans AND livestock drives resistance — requires One Health approach
- 8 Pandemic preparedness: International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and One Health are complementary
India's overuse of antibiotics in poultry farming — adding antibiotics to feed as growth promoters — has contributed to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria into humans through the food chain, groundwater, and direct contact. Regulating veterinary antibiotic use under a One Health framework is essential to slow AMR progression.