FUTURENEWS NATÀLIA MAJÓ: “THE SINGLE-HEALTH APPROACH WILL IMPROVE ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE” The Catalonian College of Veterinarians has promoted the One Health Commission intending to work public health from a more comprehensive view. Natàlia Majó, veterinarian at the One Health Commission. Photo: Natàlia Majó.
The spread of COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of addressing health challenges from a comprehensive perspective. Aware of this, the One Health Commission has been established by the College of Veterinarians of Catalonia (CCVC). This agency aims to publicise and visualise a single health (human, animal and environmental) concept. In this committee, which is taking its first steps, professionals from different fields work to enhance a more holistic understanding of health. One of its members is Natàlia Majó. We talked with her about the first months of this committee and the challenges it faces. How was the One Health Commission born? The “one health” concept has been in existence for several years. In 2010, there was already a joint positioning of supranational institutions such as the OIE, FAO, and WHO related to this concept and the need for health professionals to work as a whole. Since then, several initiatives have allowed the idea to become increasingly better known, but it has been since the COVID19 pandemic that it has been highlighted. We have seen that about 60% of infectious diseases 16
that end up affecting humans have an animal reservoir, so zoonosis remains a public health challenge. To further this matter, we promoted this commission from the College of Veterinarians of Catalonia, born at the end of last year. What’s your goal? So far, we have held meetings to define future actions. We have promoted a first training course on the sensible use of antibiotics, organised by CCVC by veterinarians working with production animals. Our purpose is to work primarily from this more comprehensive vision of single health and make it known. We want to disseminate specific aspects where the concept of single health is essential, such as antimicrobial resistance. This topic is being worked on from this more holistic view, studying its impact on humans, animals and the environment, as this is an issue of great concern in all three areas. Why is it necessary to address diseases from a One Health viewpoint? As research progresses, it has been known that many diseases are interrelated. Without
