Why in News?

• The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying has recently launched an Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI) under One Health Approach to address the threat of diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Highlights

• The initiative is in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global One Health strategy, which emphasizes the importance of multisectoral collaboration in addressing the threat of zoonotic diseases.
• It will help to Improve veterinary services and infrastructure, disease surveillance capabilities, early detection and response, build the capacity of animal health professionals, and awareness among farmers through community outreach.
• One Health approach recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health.
• The Ministry has also launched Animal Health System Support for One Health (AHSSOH) project, funded by the World Bank
• It aims to create an ecosystem for a better animal health management system using the One Health approach.
• The project will be implemented over a five-year period as Central sector scheme.
• It has set a goal to cover 151 districts in five participating states, focusing on upgrading 75 district/regional laboratories, as well as strengthening 300 veterinary hospitals/dispensaries.
• One Health brings together different sectors to solve health, productivity, and conservation challenges, which is important for India with its diverse wildlife, large livestock population, and high human density.
• Recent disease outbreaks, like Covid-19, Lumpy Skin Disease, and Avian Influenza, show that addressing disease from just a human perspective isn’t enough. We need to consider livestock and wildlife too.