Bengaluru Science and Technology (BeST) Cluster has launched One Health Bengaluru City Consortium to work towards the goal of integrating existing one health efforts, facilitating collaboration, and building a one health framework for the city.
One Health is a multi-sectoral approach that takes into consideration human, animal, environmental health and the interconnectivity and interdependence of these three elements.
Emerging diseases
At the launch, BBMP Special Health Commissioner Dr KV Thrilok Chandra emphasised the importance of putting in place a systematic mechanism to quickly capture and respond to emerging diseases and the necessity for scientists and technology players to collaborate and collate information.
He said BBMP has already established the ‘One Health Cell’, set aside significant seed capital in the current budget for the same, besides setting up a Hi-Tech Laboratory and Metropolitan Monitoring Centre to capture the major disease parameters.
Ten years from now, the consortium envisions having an organised dashboard for data-informed policymaking, environmental surveillance made part of the public healthcare system, and a model framework in place for other cities to learn from.
Ecological dynamics
“Bengaluru is a huge urban center with interfaces between wildlife, livestock and commensals, and people. Additionally, rapid development and changing climate result in dependence of our health on ecology, the interactions between all these species, and their environment. We hope the One Health Bengaluru City can bring these ecological dynamics front and center for evidence-guided action for a healthier future,” added Prof. Uma Ramakrishnan, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).
As per the BeST Cluster, which is an initiative of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, though the One Health concept has gained priority after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not limited to only infectious diseases but is a bigger approach to include non-communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance, environmental health, human-wildlife interfaces, livestock, and so on with the goal of building a unified healthy ecosystem.
