Conservation Medicine 18
Global Health Security: Integrating One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health.
Over the past several years, the world has been repeatedly reminded of how fragile health systems can be. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted societies on a global scale, while outbreaks of Ebola continue to expose weaknesses in public health infrastructure. At the same time, climate-driven disasters have become more frequent and severe, antimicrobial resistance threatens to undermine decades of medical progress, and the accelerating loss of biodiversity is altering ecosystems in ways that can increase the risk of future disease emergence.
These challenges may appear different on the surface, but they share a common lesson: health security cannot be viewed solely through a medical or national lens. Human health is deeply intertwined with the health of animals, ecosystems, and the natural environment. The forces driving many of today's health threats operate across borders, sectors, and species.
Building a more resilient and equitable future therefore requires a broader way of thinking. Human health does not exist apart from the natural world but is shaped by the condition of the ecosystems, animals, and environments with which we are inextricably connected.
Three complementary frameworks—One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health—provide a foundation for this approach. Together, they offer a three-pillar model for global health security that focuses not only on responding to crises, but also on understanding and addressing their underlying causes. By strengthening collaboration across disciplines and sectors, this framework seeks to protect human health and well-being while safeguarding the ecosystems on which all life depends.
What Is Global Health Security?
Global Health Security (GHS) refers to the proactive efforts to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to infectious disease threats that cross borders and affect global populations. Traditionally, GHS focused on emergency response systems, vaccine stockpiles, and rapid detection technologies. While these capabilities remain essential, the next generation of global health security requires a fundamental shift—from reacting to outbreaks to preventing them, from narrowly biomedical approaches to integrated systems thinking, and from a disease-centered focus to an understanding of the broader ecosystems in which health threats emerge.
Why Integration Is Essential.
The health and well-being of humans, animals, plants, microbes and ecosystems is increasingly both interdependent and interconnected. Climate change, land-use transformation, rapid urbanization, industrialized agriculture, geopolitical conflicts, mass migration, and globalization have woven together a complex network of vulnerabilities that cannot be effectively addressed through any one field of expertise alone.
By integrating One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health, we can:
Address the drivers of infectious disease emergence, not just the symptoms.
Promote resilience at the local, national, and global levels.
Align health goals with climate action and environmental stewardship and sustainability.
Create inclusive, equitable, and participatory integrated systems of health.
The Strengths of Each Framework.
One Health:
Focuses on the interconnection of human, animal, and environmental health.
Especially powerful in addressing zoonotic diseases, food safety, and antimicrobial resistance.
Supported by the WHO, FAO, UNEP, and WOAH in the Quadripartite One Health Joint Plan of Action.
EcoHealth:
Emphasizes complex systems thinking, community participation, and social-ecological dynamics.
Addresses upstream determinants of health and disease, (e.g., land use, food and water insecurity, poverty, and air, water, and soil pollution).
Recognizes equity, gender, and governance as central to sustainable positive health outcomes.
Planetary Health:
Expands the focus to global ecosystem and ecological boundaries and Earth system science.
Links positive human health outcomes with climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion.
Promotes healthy public policies that protect both human well-being and the planet’s life-support systems.
Real-World Examples of Integration.
Pandemic Preparedness and Rapid Response:
Countries like Rwanda and Vietnam are incorporating One Health and EcoHealth principles and practices into early warning surveillance systems for zoonotic disease detection.Climate-Health Surveillance:
Pacific Island nations are developing Planetary Health-informed public policies to respond to rising sea levels, freshwater contamination, and vector-borne disease shifts.Urban Stewardship and Sustainability:
Cities are applying all three frameworks to develop green infrastructure, improve air quality, and reduce health disparities through inclusive, nature-based solutions.
Gaps and Challenges.
Despite growing momentum, the integration of these frameworks into global integrated systems of health faces several barriers:
Institutional silos between multi-level governmental agencies of health, agriculture, environment, and finance.
Short-term funding and lack of political will.
Inadequate education and training for transdisciplinary and community-based work.
Limited engagement of Indigenous knowledge systems and local expertise.
Addressing these barriers requires transformational leadership, collaborative governance, and meaningful investment in capacity-building and implementation science.
A Unified Vision for Resilience.
Imagine a world where:
Deforestation policies are shaped by health impact assessments.
Urban planning includes biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation.
Pandemic surveillance is led by cross-sector, community-informed networks.
Investments in integrated systems of health also improve environmental quality and social justice.
This is the world that integrated global health security can help create.
What Needs to Happen Now.
Realizing the full potential of One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health will require more than new terminology or isolated initiatives. It demands a sustained commitment to rethinking how societies understand, govern, and invest in health. This begins with integrating systems-based approaches into national and global health strategies, recognizing that human, animal, and environmental health are inseparable. It also requires greater investment in transdisciplinary research, education, and practice that can bridge traditional institutional and professional boundaries.
Equally important is the creation of governance models that give meaningful voice to frontline communities, Indigenous peoples, and others who often experience the earliest and greatest impacts of environmental and health threats. Public health objectives must be aligned with environmental stewardship, sustainability, and climate resilience, ensuring that efforts to improve human well-being do not come at the expense of the ecosystems that support life. Finally, governments must establish durable statutory and regulatory protections for the planetary commons—the shared natural systems upon which present and future generations depend. Together, these steps can help build a healthier, more resilient, and more sustainable future.
Conclusion.
Securing the future of global health security and human well-being requires far more than vaccines, hospitals, and emergency response systems. While these remain essential, lasting health security depends on healthy ecosystems, resilient communities, equitable societies, and sustained international cooperation. The conditions that give rise to emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food insecurity, and climate-related health threats are often rooted in the complex interactions between people, animals, and the environment. Addressing these challenges therefore requires a broader and more integrated approach.
The combined perspectives of One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health offer a compelling framework for meeting this challenge. Together, they expand the concept of global health security beyond preparedness and response to include prevention, resilience, sustainability, and stewardship of the natural systems upon which health ultimately depends.
This vision is about more than preventing the next pandemic or responding to the next crisis. It is about addressing the underlying conditions that shape health and security in an interconnected world. By protecting ecosystems, reducing inequities, strengthening community resilience, and fostering global cooperation, we can build a future that is not only safer from emerging threats but also more just, sustainable, and healthy for all life on Earth.
