Download oneHEALTH (formerly ecoHEALTH): 2015 Activities

oneHEALTH (formerly ecoHEALTH): 2015 Activities
Machalaba, C., Romanelli, C., Stoett, P., Baum, S. E., Bouley, T. A.,
Daszak, P. and Karesh, W. B. (2015). Climate Change and Health:
Transcending Silos to Find Solutions. Annals of Global Health 81(3),
445-458. DOI:10.1016/j.aogh.2015.08.002
Our key publications in
2015 included
Machalaba, C. C., Daszak, P., Karesh, W. B., and Shrivastava, P.
(2015). Future Earth and EcoHealth: A New Paradigm Toward Global
Sustainability and Health. EcoHealth, 12(4), 553-554. DOI:10.1007/
s10393-015-1076-6
Machalaba, C., and Porter, V. Urbanization and Infections: Hidden
links to rural settings. UGEC Viewpoints. November 24, 2015.
World Health Organization and Convention on Biological Diversity.
(2015). Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health,
a State of Knowledge Review. Genève and Montréal. [Karesh, W.
B., Daszak, P., and Machalaba, C. – lead or contributing authors for
chapters 1,2,7 and 16]
Machalaba, C. C., Karesh, W. B. (2015) Envisioning a World without
Emerging Disease Outbreaks. Solutions 6(2): 63-71.
Our headline finding or
activity in 2015
In partnership with external experts from the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the World Bank and leading health
and sustainability organizations, oneHEALTH led the development
of a review on climate change and health in the Annals of Global
Health (see above). The paper was noteworthy for distinguishing the
links between climate change and its upstream drivers (i.e. processes leading to greenhouse gas emissions), health outcomes and
the health effects of climate change itself. Given the many sectors
outside of the health community contributing to climate change, the
paper promoted cross-disciplinary global health and climate actions
to prevent, prepare for and respond to anthropogenic pressures. The
paper was released leading up to the Paris Climate Conference, and
the key messages were further disseminated through an interview on
the Future Earth website.
How our work contributed to 1) Science, 2) Policy
and 3) Society. Who are
the key users of this new
knowledge?
Our work on strategies to shift the paradigm from response to prevention of disease threats was shared widely. For example, through
participation in several dissemination events with the CBD to convey
key messages from the CBD-World Health Organization (WHO)
State of Knowledge Review (e.g. presentations at CBD’s 19th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological
Advice), we discussed implementation strategies directly with CBD
Delegates.
Based on our prior work on disease ecology and associated economic consequences from health risks of certain types of land use
practices, we developed a framework to support healthy land use
planning. This was presented at the 2015 International Conference
on Sustainable Development, and we provided targeted suggestions
for the SDG consultation process. The framework intends to inform
policy making and will be expanded in 2016.
Presentations to conservation, sustainable development and global
health communities on shared health-environment threats and One
Health strategies
We engaged with these
stakeholders/societal
partners/external users in
2015
Collaboration on a public event on the “African Livestock Futures”
report in New York during the United Nations General Assembly
with UN Development Programme (UNDP), Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), EcoHealth Alliance and World Bank partners
to promote sustainable development awareness and discussions at
the intersection of food production/security, health, ecosystems and
sustainability.
Publications with partners from the UN and other organizations.
For broader societal reach, we published blog posts, such as one tailored to the food and agriculture sector on disease dynamics related
to land use change.
How we co-designed
research questions or
co-produced knowledge
with other disciplines or
societal partners in 2015
Co-design is inherent in our project model, given our multidisciplinary
Scientific Committee (disciplines represented include international development, public health, economics, agriculture and animal
health, climate and weather science and conservation; domains represented include UN agencies, academia, NGOs; all continents are
represented except Antarctica). Thus, our research priorities reflect
input from these communities. In addition to co-design, we showcased the relevance of our findings to many sectors – most directly
to the health community, but also to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, food security, disaster risk preparedness and development
stakeholders. Emphasis was made on solutions where these and
other communities could address shared challenges.
Health module for UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Massive
Open Online Course (MOOC) on ecosystems.
Co-development of the Future Earth Health Knowledge-Action Network (including organizing an online global consultation on health
priorities, engaging funders and co-organizing the Rockefeller Foundation-supported Bellagio meeting on linking environment and health
data).
Our new activities for
2016 include
Future Health symposium at the One Health EcoHealth Congress.
Economic analysis of pandemic prevention approaches.
Collaboration on the conference “Avoiding Catastrophe: Linking
Armed Conflict, Harm to Ecosystems and Public Health.”
Broadening impact of Sustainable Development Goals through One
Health best practices and synergies.
Open event for the release of a horizon scan for future health.
How to find us online
Website: www.futureearth.org/futurehealth/
How to contact us
Catherine Machalaba: [email protected]