Healthy diet, potable water, and steps to combat environment hazards would ensure healthy population, reduction in diseases and health budget.
Experts stated this at a seminar on One Health organized by Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad in collaboration with US Center for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security, UAF.
Addressing on the occasion, UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that One Health was an approach to ensure the well being of people, animals and the environment through collaborative problem solving at local, national, and global level as well.
He said that we are living a global society with threats such as climate change, human population growth, changing land use and emerging pandemics. He stressed upon the need to seek interventions to address causes of poor health, unsafe water, food insecurity, infectious diseases, and lack of sanitation.
He said that we have to take the interdisciplinary approaches for the purposes. He showed his concern that more than 40 percent of the populations were facing malnutrition. He said that it was a matter of the food habit as the people don’t know about the nutritional values of intake. He added that the majority of our population doesn’t have potable water facility.
He also viewed that climate changes were posing a serious thereat for which collaborated efforts are needed to redress the problems of the people. Punjab Medical College Dr Alfareed Zafar said that the country was facing two major issues including population growth and education. He said that ever increasing population was a real threat amid the situation when the resources are shrinking. He stressed upon the need to collaborative efforts to reduce diseases. He said high caloric intake, dependence on impure and processed foods, sedentary life style, environmental pollutants and less time for relaxation and physical activities were posing the serious health threat for the people.
University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Vice Chancellor Dr Talat Nazeer Pasha said that in UVAS, they were working on One Health to fight the challenges of human and animals diseases,.
Pakistan Academy of Sciences Secretary General Zabta Khan Shinwari said that tangible researchers on the diseases are essential. The experts should give a road map to fight the climate changes.
Dean Veterinary Sciences Dr Ahrar Khan said that natural health is the best maintained by life style change including physical exercise; and nutritional measures/dietary habits, He said that the tangible steps were being taken to address the issues under one health program.
National Academies of Sciences Washington DC Program Officer Audtry D Thevenon, National Academies of Sciences Washington DC Senior Program Officer Lida Anestidou; Davis Hayman from Massey University; and other notables also attended the meeting.