Human and Animal Health |
In contrast to common disciplinary specializations of human and veterinary medicine, the "one medicine" concept, coined by Calvin Schwabe in the 1960s, is the study of health and disease regardless of species differences between humans and animals. Its advantage compared to separated human or animal health is an added value which could not be achieved by those scientific disciplines alone.
The Human and Animal Health research group within the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health scrutinizes the importance of the "one medicine" concept and how it informs current priorities in international health expressed in the Millennium Development Goals and efforts to strengthen health systems. Contemporary work from Africa and Asia shows PROJECTS how an integrated one health perspective can strengthen health systems in low resource settings by implementing novel joint animal and human health services for hard to reach populations, enhancing early detection of zoonoses through inter-sectoral surveillance and interaction, and rethinking health system priorities based on a more comprehensive trans-sectoral health economic analysis of health interventions in low income countries. These examples further validate and expand Schwabe's original concept of not limiting medicine by species barriers in the search for better health.
Geographically (link to map with project areas: Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan), the group's main fields of activity are in West - and Central Africa. It collaborates on the basis of research partnerships with numerous African and Asian institutions. The scientific work is linked to capacity and institution building in the collaborating countries. In Switzerland it contributes to the building of capacity and training in international animal health.