Scientists from all over the world gathered for the first meeting of the Lancet One Health Commission.
The meeting took place on the 9th and 10th of May at Blindern and in the beautiful surroundings of Tøyen Manor and the Botanical Gardens. The meeting was led by John Amuasi and Andrea Winkler.
Adopted goals and main theme
The members decided that the Commission's main theme should be to improve human, animal and ecosystem health through integrated approaches.
In addition, the delegates adopted the Commission's objectives. These objectives will lead the way for how the Commission and each working group will move forward over the next few years. The objectives include demonstrating the opportunities, challenges and value proposition for an integrated approach to multispecies health and sustainable economic development in the 21st century.
The Lancet One Health Commission's participants gathered outside Tøyen Manor. Photo: Øystein Horgmo, UiO.
In addition, they will synthesize evidence for the value of an integrated approach to multi-species health around the shared environment, food safety, shared medicines and intervention with an emphasis on infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
Focus on shared environment, safe food and the sharing of medicines and interventions
The Commission established three working groups. Each group will work on one part of the Commission's tasks over the next two years. The groups will look at these topics:
- Shared environment
- Safe food and food systems
- Shared medicines and interventions
The Commission's main task will be to produce a report based on this work. Inclusion of multiple disciplines.
"It was important to include experts from multiple disciplines, including veterinarians and those working on non-communicable diseases. It was also important to include the work on how infectious and non-communicable diseases interact," says Andrea Winkler, Commissioner and one of the Commission’s two leaders. She is also the Director of the Centre for Global Health here at the Faculty.
Andrea Winkler, Commissioner and one of the two leaders of the Lancet One Health Commission. Photo: Øystein Horgmo, UiO.
The goal of the Lancet One Health Commission is to contribute to increased knowledge and research on One Health and the challenges facing society.
One Health is an important contribution to UiO's commitment to life science and will also contribute to meeting UiO's highly prioritised goals for sustainability.
One Health is the result of recognising the interaction between humans, animals and the environment and how this a prerequisite for us to be able to understand and handle threats to global health.