The environment is fundamental to human health

How do you make the people of the world healthier? For the longest time, the answer was to treat the myriad ailments that plague the human race.  

But in recent years, experts have come to have a more expansive view of health. Many are finally acknowledging that human health is inextricably linked to the health of animals, both wild and domestic, and the health of the planet.     

This philosophy is embodied in what is known as the One Health approach. It posits that people can’t be healthy if they are drinking polluted water or living side-by-side with disease carrying livestock, and calls for holistic solutions that make people, animals and the planet better off.  

“The environment is an essential pillar of the One Health approach,” says Doreen Lynn Robinson, Director of Biodiversity and Land at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) “Tackling the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste will help foster a sustainable future where people, animals and the planet can thrive together,” she says.  

From 20 – 23 September, scientists, policymakers, representatives of international institutions, civil society and the private sector will gather in Cape Town, South Africa for one of the largest global forums dedicated to advancing the One Health approach.