One Health

One Health is an innovative global-wide approach that aims  to tighten the collaboration and communication in all aspects of  human, animal and environmental healthcare into one synergistic body: One Health. The goal is to better understand and overcome current and future issues in all areas of healthcare. By doing so, this will advance research strategies and improve our scientific understanding of the complex mechanisms affecting the environment, human and animal health.

There is an urgent need to control the spreading of infectious diseases, to anticipate and possibly prevent the future threats (i.e. new zoonotic diseases/epidemies). We need to expand our knowledge in order to deal with present and emerging problems at the local, national and global level. Growing antimicrobial resistance, rapidly spreading new zoonotic diseases, air pollution, climate changes, growing demand for food – these are only a few of many challenges that need to be urgently addressed.

The One Health approach would bring benefits to human and animal health in senso lato. It would provide better understanding of:

  • mechanisms of human disorders,
  • improve control and prevention of infectious agents,
  • reduce economical losses due to diseases of livestock or crops,
  • support the international efforts in campaign for sustainable environment.

FEMS endorses the One Health Initiative (OHI). FEMS strongly supports the OHI and the call for increased collaboration between the human and veterinary medical communities. Many of our members look forward to seeing more interactions and partnerships between physicians, veterinarians and scientific researchers.  Such collaboration could help find responses to serious societal challenges, such as emerging infectious diseases, pandemics and the transmission of Antimicrobial Resistance. Also, it is crucial for our health and the health of the planet to build a better understanding around the role and fate of microbes and viruses in the biotic and abiotic environment. OHI can show the way to a healthy future.

We want to increase awareness of One Health within the scientific community by facilitating scientific networking, promote collaborative science projects, enhance education, and  increase awareness of this important global initiative to the general public. 

Our Activities

Our One Health campaign is led by our dedicated volunteers. Their commitment in raising the profile of One Health to the wider microbiology community is testament to the great impact that our volunteers have.

Learn about One Health 

Thematic Issues

In recognition of the significance of the One Health concept, 2 FEMS journals that publish on the health of humans and that of their environment, Pathogens and Disease and FEMS Microbiology Ecology, have teamed up to organize joint thematic issues on the theme of One Health:

 

 

FEMS Journals and Open Access

Embracing an Open Future

All but one of the FEMS journals are now fully open access (OA), with one journal, FEMS Microbiology Letters remaining a subscription journal with free-to-publish and OA options. Open access is key to supporting the FEMS mission of disseminating high quality research as widely as possible: when high quality, peer reviewed sound science is open access, anyone, anywhere in the world with an internet connection, can read it.

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