015-GCOH-REPORT-MAY-2015

WVA/WMA GLOBAL
CONFERENCE ON ONE HEALTH
Drivers towards One Health
“Strengthening collaboration between
Physicians and Veterinarians”
21-22nd
May 2015, Madrid, Spain
REPORT
Sponsored by A.M.A. CE Accreditation by
Introduction
On 21 and 22nd
of May 2015, The World Veterinary Association (WVA) and the World
Medical Association (WMA) in collaboration with the Spanish
Medical (SMA) and Veterinary (SVA) Associations organized the
Global Conference on ‘One Health’ Concept with the theme: Drivers
towards One Health – “Strengthening collaboration between
Physicians and Veterinarians”.
The Global Conference brought together 330 delegates from 40 countries around the world.
Veterinarians, Physicians, Students, Public Health Officials, and NGOs representatives
received presentations from high level speakers and had the opportunity to learn, discuss
and address critical aspects of the One Health Concept. During the conference breaks,
poster sessions took place where delegates could view and discuss different One Health
topics with the authors.
The main objectives of the conference were to strengthen the links and communications and
to achieve closer collaboration between Physicians, Veterinarians and all relevant
stakeholders to improve the different aspects of
health and welfare of humans, animals and the
environment. After short welcome speeches
session by the Presidents of WVA, WMA, AMA,
SVA, SMA, the Spanish Ministry representative
and the FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite representative,
the conference started with different sessions on:
• Zoonotic diseases.
• Antimicrobial resistance.
• Natural disaster management – Preparedness and vet-med collaboration.
• One Health in food production.
 Veterinary Education of One Health Concept.
In summary:
In the introduction session, the speakers reviewed the historic evolution of medicine and
veterinary medicine which had developed closely together for centuries, and even much
earlier, until the two professions diverged due to specialization and consumer priorities.
However, now in the 21st
century, the risks have changed due to increasing population,
increasing population density in urban centres, larger numbers of animals kept in close
proximity, wildlife environment encroachment putting people in closer proximity to wildlife
etc. which requires an integrated approach by physicians and veterinarians to combat
different types of health threats.
With regards to Zoonotic diseases (e.g. Ebola, rabies), speakers underlined the need to
move toward prevention, better surveillance, early detection and information sharing. There
is also a need to understand the conditions which allow diseases to emerge and spread,
such as areas of increased population density in cities, increased intensive farming, and
increased travel globally. The economic costs of response (in money and loss of lives) vs.
investment in prevention are the reason to invest in preventive systems and improved
health care infrastructure; “Remember, vaccines don’t protect, vaccination does.” (Ab
Osterhaus). There is a need to learn from recent experiences, and move from a crisis-
driven society to one of prevention and preparedness.
With regards to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), speakers highlighted the lack of data,
the politics involved, and the over and under use of antibiotics in various situations. The
finding which suggests that the precursor (CC17) for Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus
(VRE) is found in dogs rather than other species, calls for an urgent need to gather much
more data on the use of antimicrobials in companion animals as much as in food producing
animals.
With regards to Other Aspects of One Health session, speakers mentioned:
• Invasive species such as the giant African land snail (GALS);
• Medications leading to toxicity in wildlife and other environmental concerns;
• Human interactions with animals, drivers of human behaviours and human health
priorities, such as obesity and mental health, all of which may see benefits from
animal ownership for exercise, comfort, and companionship;
• Disaster preparedness, response, and recovery with both medical and veterinary
responses in the East Japan great earthquake and tsunami of 2011;
• Our roles in controlling rumours and misinformation; and
• Our roles in education on One Health in our educational institutions about zoonotic
diseases and pharmaceutical stewardship.
Conference conclusions, recommendations and future initiatives
A show of hands for medical vs. veterinary
professionals, and medical vs. veterinary
students, still reveals a strongly veterinary
audience. How do we get more physicians in the
audience? Yet, there was a strong presence of
young professionals (students) which is very
encouraging at this meeting.
What made this meeting unique was that it was
organized by the WVA and WMA, along with the Spanish Veterinary and Medical
Associations, with strong support from the Spanish insurance industry for health
professionals. This occurred because of trusted relationships built over time. Two unique
strengths are:
• The WVA and WMA have a powerful voice with potential for increased impact when
they speak collaboratively as both human and animal health care professionals.
• The WVA and the WMA have close relationships with the high-level
intergovernmental organizations of OIE, WHO, and the FAO of the United Nations.
The FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite representative stated that influence comes from Leadership,
Networking, Cooperation, Facilitation, Building trust at the highest levels and
Communication. Trust is built many times with teamwork in groups on projects. Effective
communication depends on who is in the audience, and learning how to communicate our
technical scientific knowledge in an emotional and impactful way to specific audiences.
The overall conclusion:
• Human health, animal health, and the ecosystems are
interlinked and there is a need for a coordinated,
interdisciplinary approach to address risks that emerge at the
animal-human-ecosystems interface.
• There is a commonly shared concern that as the cross-border
human, animal, food and seeds mobility increases, so does
the threat for the spread of dangerous pathogens and
infectious diseases.
• More education and more training for the next generation of experts are required.
• There is a need for an information-sharing framework in order to detect and fill
knowledge gaps, and to strengthen inter-disciplinary cooperation.
Recommendations
The key objectives should be to promote a cross-disciplinary and collaborative approach in
order to improve human health and animal well-being. There is a need to foster scientific
research on zoonosis and vector-borne infectious disease and it is important that new
scientific findings will be disseminated and translated to anyone who might benefit from
them. To achieve the above mentioned, there is a need to invest in relationships at three
levels:
A. Students
• The Global One Health Challenge sponsored by Global Alliance on Rabies Control and
World Animal Protection inspired the medical and veterinary students to work on One
Health projects, building new relationships and cooperation.
• There is a need to inspire more activities of this nature for students and even
professional association members.
B. Professional Associations (local, national and on regional levels)
• This meeting is a great model for future meetings in other countries with co-
sponsorship from both the WMA and WVA with national associations e.g. Japan
where collaboration between the JAMA and JAVA has been well-established. More
countries should be encouraged to apply such a collaborative model.
• There is a need to initiate stronger support for education on human health factors
related to pet ownership such as obesity and mental health, as well as more
education on responsible use and disposal of medicines and drug availability, with
emphasis on decreasing antimicrobial resistance.
• There is a need to support and strengthen national associations in communities to be
effective advocates on issues of education, policy, legislation, enforcement, and
effective statutory bodies.
C. Intergovernmental Organizations
• WVA and WMA need to continue building relationships with Intergovernmental
Organizations through in-person visits and activities to build trust and to raise our
combined voices for improved health care infrastructure.
• Together with Intergovernmental Organizations, WVA and WMA need to express the
importance of governments to invest in the protection of their own citizens with
effective preventive human and veterinary health care infrastructure, surveillance,
early detection, and a well-trained health care workforce with effective protection.
• WMA and WVA shall continue their cooperation on these educational forums for both
public and private sectors and to have more frequent and appropriate
communication between policy makers and scientists.
Future initiatives
The WVA/WMA Global Conference on One Health exceeded the attendance expectations
with full capacity. Many attendees were highly impressed with the
program and organization. This was a huge success, lending credit
to the importance of the speakers, poster presentations, and good
logistical organization of the meeting. WVA and WMA agreed that
more conferences like this one shall follow to also include
educational webinars online for wider audiences.
Conference material and presentations
Click on the following for the:
• Program of the Conference (including the links to the presentations. Click on the
presentation title)
• Speaker abstracts booklet
• Poster abstracts booklet
• Pictures from the conference