The EU acknowledges the complex interplay between human, animal, and plant health, as well as food safety, environmental sustainability, and climate change. Adopting a One Health approach is crucial for enhancing the EU’s readiness to prevent, predict, detect and respond to health threats. By adopting this approach, the societal cost of such threats can be minimized or even prevented altogether. Moreover, this approach will help reduce human pressures on the environment and safeguard essential societal needs like food security and access to clean air and water.
To implement a joint framework for action over the next three years (2024-2026), a cross-agency task force has been established. The task force will focus on five strategic objectives: strategic coordination, research coordination, capacity building, stakeholder engagement, and joint inter-agency activities. Through this initiative, the scientific advice provided by the agencies will become more integrated, the evidence base for One Health will be reinforced and agencies can contribute with a united voice to the One Health agenda in Europe.
In November 2023, the five EU agencies responsible for providing scientific advice on environmental public health and food safety issues released a joint statement expressing their commitment to advancing the One Health agenda in Europe. The Executive Directors of the agencies reaffirmed their dedication to this approach through a joint video statement marking the launch of the joint framework for action.
