#COVIDByte #6: The Approach One Health to Fight COVID19

Published May 11, 2020

And the new #COVIDByte is here, the sixth. Today we will talk about the approach One health to fight against COVID19 promoting biodiversity

COVID19 has affected our current ways of life, altering our capacity as a society to overcome crisis times, to be more resilient. It is not enough to manage only this present situation, rather we should reflect on how we organize ourselves as a society in the “new normal” that is coming.

In the latest report on the Economics of Biodiversity, carried out by Professor Partha Dasgupta in the United Kingdom, the importance of biodiversity for our societies is evident, being one of the elements that supports the economy, our food system and our well-being. The loss of biodiversity represents a threat to the health of our future societies, increasing vulnerability to external elements such as the spread of viruses. Some experts warn that the simplification of ecological processes and the reduction in the diversity of species diminishes many of the functions that these ecosystems previously performed, such as protection against viruses and other infectious agents. These ecosystem services are hardly replaceable by social institutions or organizations. Therefore, protecting ecosystems must be a priority task in the future.

In this line, the One health approach proposes an integrated vision of human, animal and ecosystem health to address future challenges in Public Health. It represents a global paradigm shift, acquiring a multidisciplinary perspective to face future challenges such as the spread of zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and food security. In terms of food, adopting this vision would imply strengthening sustainable food systems that include the maintenance of biodiversity and the preservation of ecosystems in the production of healthy and nutritious food.

The current model of food production is closely linked to soil degradation, overexploitation of aquifers, loss of biodiversity and deforestation, due to its dependence on chemicals and fossil fuels. Therefore, we should think about what the new food normality will be like, the principles on which it will be based and how the One Health vision will be integrated to preserve our ecosystems and at the same time ensure access to safe and quality food. A task where agroecology and sustainable management practices have a lot to offer, basing their model on the interdependence of natural systems. There is no doubt that cooperation between diverse approaches and innovative formulas will be necessary to build the way to feed ourselves in the future.