One Health &
Environmental Literacy
Alison Robbins, MS, DVM
Tufts Center for Conservation Medicine
Tufts Environmental Literacy Institute
May 20, 2013
Overview of One Health
• Frame the subject of one health through a
review of global assessments of ecosystem
health and human health
• Review definitions and priorities
• Review concepts of ecosystem services and
planetary boundaries Anthropocene
• MEA, MDG, Sustainability Development
Goals
One Health
• What is it?
• Recognition that
human health,
animal health and
ecosystem health
are inextricably linked
Slide Courtesy G. Kaufman
One Health
One
Health?
Slide Courtesy G. Kaufman
Many Competing Terms
• Global Health
• Ecohealth
• One Health
• Public Health
• Conservation Medicine
Global Health and Ecohealth
• Global health- a study and practice that
places a priority on improving health and
achieving equity in health for all people
worldwide(Wikipedia)-measures health outcomes
• Ecohealth-An emerging field of study
researching how changes in the
earth’s ecosystems affect human health
focusing on participation, gender and social
equity, systems thinking, and research to
action
One Health Initiative -AVMA
• The One Health concept is a worldwide
strategy for expanding interdisciplinary
collaborations and communications in all
aspects of health care for humans, animals
and the environment.
http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/
Conservation Medicine @ Tufts
Conservation medicine focuses on
health relationships occurring at the
interface of humans, animals, and the
environment, and seeks to develop
and apply health management
practices, policies and programs that
sustain biodiversity and protect the
ecosystems essential to animal and
human health.
Slide Courtesy G. Kaufman
One Health
We don’t all have the same priorities…
CONSERVATION MEDICINE
#1 Wildlife health
#2 Environmental health
#3 Human health
Slide Courtesy G. Kaufman
PUBLIC HEALTH
#1 Human health
#2 Animal health
#3 Environmental health
ECOSYSTEM HEALTH
#1 Environmental health
#2 Human health
#3 Animal health
Global Health Assessment
• Environmental Health
– Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment
– Links ecosystem health to
attaining human
development goals
• Animal Health
– Livestock and agriculture
– Biological Diversity -MEA
– Wildlife
• Human Health
– Millennium
Development Goals
Indicators of Global
Human Health
• Indicators of human well being and health
across the planet
– Infant and child mortality, Extreme hunger
– Access to education,
• Millennium Development Goals –
– Eight international development goals
established in 2000 by the Millennium summit at
the United Nations
– Effort to achieve these goals across globe by 2015
United Nations Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment Findings
http://millenniumassessment.org/en/SlidePresentations.html
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
(MEA 2005)
• 2005 report synthesizing 1000 scientists analysis
of state of the earths ecosystems
• Report concludes that human activity has a large
and escalating impact world ecosystems
• Ecosystem life support system and ecosystem
services are in serious decline and at risk to nonlinear change (tipping points)
• Unless addressed will substantially effect
human well being and all life
• http://www.unep.org/maweb/en/index.aspx
Ecosystem Services
Life and humankind depend on resources
and processes that are supplied by
ecosystems and are grouped into 4 broad
categories:
• Regulating Services
• Supporting Services
• Provisioning Services
• Cultural Services
MEA 2005
Constituents of
Human Well Being
Consequences of ecosystem change effect
human well-being; 4 broad categories:
• Security
• Basic Material for Good life
• Health
• Good Social Relations
• Freedom of Choice and Actionsopportunity to be and to achieve what an
individual values doing and being
MEA 2005
MEA 2005
MEA 2005
MA Framework
Human Well-being and
Poverty Reduction
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Basic material for a good life
Health
Good Social Relations
Human
Security
Well-being
Freedom of choice
and action
Indirect Drivers of Change
 Demographic
 Economic (globalization, trade,
market and policy framework)
 Sociopolitical (governance and
Indirect framework)
institutional
 Science
and Technology
Drivers
 Cultural and Religious
Direct Drivers of Change
Ecosystem
Services
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Changes in land use
Species
introduction or removal
Direct
Technology adaptation and use
Drivers
External
inputs (e.g., irrigation)
Resource consumption
Climate change
Natural physical and biological
drivers (e.g., volcanoes)
Unprecedented change in structure and
function of ecosystems
More land was converted to cropland in the 30 years after 1950
than in the 150 years between 1700 and 1850.
Cultivated Systems in 2000 cover 25% of Earth’s terrestrial surface
(Defined as areas where at least 30% of the landscape is in croplands, shifting cultivation,
confined livestock production, or freshwater aquaculture)
Changes to ecosystems have provided
substantial benefits
 Food production
has more than
doubled since
1960
 Food production
per capita has
grown
 Food price has
fallen
Unprecedented change: Ecosystems
Gulf of Mexico nutrient runoff
commons.wikimedia.org
Unprecedented Ecosystem
Change (MEA 2005)
• Amount of water in reservoirs quadrupled since 1960
• Withdrawals from rivers and lakes doubled since 1960
• Intercepted Continental Runoff: 3-6 times as much water
in reservoirs as in natural rivers
Three Gorges dam China
www.industrytap.com
Unprecedented Ecosystem
Change (MEA 2005)
• 20% of the world’s coral reefs were lost and
20% degraded in the last several decades
savethecorals.wordpress.com
Significant and largely
irreversible Biodiversity Loss
• Threatened with extinction: 30% amphibians, 12%
birds, 23% Mammals, 3% plants.
• 6th extinctions –on order of mass extinctions
Ecosystem Services Changes
• Provisioning service
increases
– Crop production
– Livestock
– Aquaculture
• Provisioning decrease
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–
–
–
Capture fisheries
Genetic resources
Biochemicals/medicine
Fresh water
• Regulating and
cultural services reductions
– Air quality regulation
– Climate regulation
local
– Erosion
– pollination
Degradation of ecosystem services is a
significant barrier to achievement of MDGs
Many of the regions facing the greatest challenges in achieving the 2015 targets
coincide with regions facing the greatest problems of ecosystem degradation
Although socioeconomic factors will play a primary role in achieving many of the
MDGs, targets are unlikely to be met without improvement in ecosystem
management for goals such as:
 Poverty Reduction
 Hunger
· All four MA scenarios project progress but at rates far slower than needed to attain
the MDG target. The improvements are slowest in the regions in which the problems
are greatest: South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa
 Child mortality
· Three of the MA scenarios project reductions in child undernourishment of between
10% and 60% but undernourishment increases by 10% in one.
 Disease
· Progress toward this Goal is achieved in three scenarios, but in one scenario the health
and social conditions for the North and South further diverge, exacerbating health
problems in many low-income regions
 Environmental Sustainability including access to water
Anthropocene Epoch
• Epoch- Formal time boundary often marked
upheavals in Earth history through fossil
record
• Scale of human driven environmental change
– Mega cities
– Chemical and biological effects
– Rates of biological extinctions 100 – 1000x
equivalent to earths 6th extinction
• Beginning with the industrial revolution
within Epoch of Holocene
Anthropocene Epoch
NASA
Planetary Boundaries –
Rockstrom et al, Science 2009
Stockholm Resilience.org
How do we change course?
• First a recognition that
– “Business as usual” projected scenarios are
grim
– planetary boundaries can provide a
framework for safe operating zones
– Unique moment in time with world
population, energy and food production,
Global health advances and technology
How do we change course?
• Change is difficult
• With most aspects of change a shift of
attitude is needed
• A paradigm shift - One Health agenda
Paradigm Shift• New paradigm for human endeavors
• Innovation coupled with the new mindset
lead to transformative actions and outcomes
• Collaboration on a global scale
Sustainable Development Goals
linking poverty
eradication to protection
of Earth’s life support
systems
Sustainable development
goals for people and
planet. Nature, 495: 305307.
(21 March 2013)
Griggs et al 2013: Nature 495; 305-307
Millennium Sustainability Goals
• Grigg et al -Integrate into Millennium
Development goals for human health
• Paradigm shift for all governments across
developed and undeveloped world
• Road map for educators and OH
practitioners: Healthy and productive
ecosystems
• Environmental literacy
TELI -A Step Forward Together
• Educate the educators- knowledge gaps in
environmental health are vast
• Work with and inform global leaders
• Breakdown social barriers to sharing
information and changing practices
• Learn from successes – MDG, share
experiences
TELI -A Step Forward Together
Take the next step forwardBegin to realize the extraordinary
potential of interdisciplinary
collaboration in Global One Health
Thanks to Tufts
One Health Community
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Gretchen Kaufman
Antje Danielson
Joann Lindenmeyer
Mark Pokras
Mike McGuill
Helen Amuguni
Flo Tseng
Elena Nauvoma
Bryan Windmiller
MCM Students
• Master’s in Conservation Medicine
Program
• Tufts Institute for the Environment
• Fletcher School –Center for
International Environmental
Research and Policy (CIERP)
• Tufts Programs in Public Health
• Freidman School of Nutrition
• Dept. of Infectious Disease and
Global Health
• USAID RESPOND projectcapacity building