Connecting the Dots

A decade ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organisations endorsed the One Health concept – the idea that the health of people, animals and the environment are deeply interconnected and can only be optimised by collaboration between multiple disciplines (not just health), at the local, national and global levels. The hope was that such endorsement would give impetus to breaking down silos between medicine, veterinary science, engineering, environmental sciences and other disciplines, and get policymakers to think more comprehensively about the impact of their decisions. Unfortunately, as the COVID-19 pandemic and looming threats from climate change show, the message has thus far failed to penetrate. But at HKU, researchers are persisting with efforts to provide evidence and perspectives on One Health through their work on emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, regulatory options and the mapping of disease outbreaks and environmental change.