One Health must be translated from a policy document into work on the ground, Bangladesh's environment, forest and climate change minister Abdul Awal Mintoo told the plenary hall of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome on Tuesday.

Responding to emergencies is not enough, the minister said. Resilient agrifood systems and durable livelihoods come from spotting risk early, reducing it and preventing it.

Bangladesh's food and livelihood system is tightly bound to crops, livestock, fisheries and natural resources, he said, which leaves the country no room to treat human, animal and environmental health as separate questions.

Setting out the national commitment, he said the third One Health Strategic Framework for 2025 to 2030 has been drawn up, following the national framework adopted in 2012.

Recalling avian influenza and the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said preparedness is not a destination but a matter of keeping pace with risks that keep changing.

He thanked FAO and other international and regional partners, and called for pandemic prevention and preparedness to be tied to resilient agrifood systems, sustainable livelihoods, environmental stability and climate resilience.

For a farmer or a fisher the meaning is direct: the sooner disease surveillance, vaccination and animal health services reach a village, the less livestock and income an outbreak takes away.

Source: Channel i Online