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Disease emergence represents a global threat to public health, economy and biological conservation. Most emerging zoonotic diseases have an animal origin, most commonly from wildlife. To prevent their spread and to support the implementation of control measures, disease surveillance and reporting systems are needed, and due to globalisation, these activities should be carried out at the global level. To define the main gaps affecting the performance of wildlife health surveillance and reporting systems globally, the authors analysed data from a questionnaire sent to National Focal Points of the World Organisation for Animal Health that inquired on structure and limits of wildlife surveillance and reporting systems in their territories. Responses from 103 Members, covering all areas of the globe, revealed that 54.4% have a wildlife disease surveillance programme and 66% have implemented a strategy to manage disease spread. The lack of dedicated budget affected the possibility of outbreak investigations, sample collection and diagnostic testing. Although most Members maintain records relating to wildlife mortality or morbidity events in centralised databases, data analysis and disease risk assessment are reported as priority needs. The authors' evaluation of surveillance capacity found an overall low level, with marked variability among Members that was not restricted to a specific geographical area. Increased wildlife disease surveillance globally would help in understanding and managing risks to animal and public health. Moreover, consideration of the influence of socio-economic, cultural and biodiversity aspects could improve disease surveillance under a One Health approach.

In an era of accelerating global climate change, human mobility has reached unprecedented levels. While it is acknowledged that many cases of human migration in the context of climate change are forced or involuntary, particularly where adaptation measures have failed to achieve sufficient resiliency of communities against impending slow- and sudden-onset disasters. There are also many cases where migration is, itself, a voluntary adaptive measure to secure otherwise unattainable physical safety and life-sustaining resources. It is in these cases that migration can be viewed as adaptation. Under the right policy conditions, it is possible for such adaptive migration to save countless lives. Moreover, it can achieve remarkable health and well-being gains for otherwise vulnerable communities residing on environmentally degrading lands and disproportionately suffering from the health impacts of climate change. While several activists have spoken loudly on the topic of climate migration, emphasizing the human rights imperative for supportive global policy action, the public health community has not been equally vocal nor unanimous in its stance. This paper, a product of the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) Environmental Health Working Group, aims to rectify this gap, by analyzing adaptive climate migration through a public health lens. In doing so, it argues that creating an enabling environment for adaptive climate migration is not just a human rights imperative, but also a public health one. This argument is supported by evidence demonstrating how creating such an enabling environment can synergistically support the fulfillment of key public health services and functions, as outlined under the internationally endorsed Global Charter for the Public's Health of the WFPHA., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a deepening of existing inequalities and a rollback of achievements made in gender equality. Women in Global Health (WGH) is a global movement that aims to achieve gender equality in health and increase female leadership in global health. Here, the aim was to understand how the pandemic affects the private and professional lives of women working in global health in different European countries. Suggestions for future pandemic preparedness including how gender perspectives should be integrated into pandemic preparedness and how a women's network such as WGH helped them to overcome the impact of the pandemic were explored., Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted in September 2020 with a sample size of nine highly educated women with a mean age of 42.1 years from the different WGH European chapters. The participants were informed of the study and were formally asked for their consent. The interviews were held in English via an online videoconference platform and lasted 20-25 min each. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted according to Mayring Qualitative Content Analysis using MAXQDA., Results: The pandemic has both positive and negative effects on the professional and private lives of women. It led to an increased workload and stress as well as pressure to publish on COVID-19-related themes. Increased childcare and household responsibilities represented a double burden. The available space was limited if other family members were also working from home. Positive aspects included more time for family or partners and reduced travel. The participants report on perceived gender differences in the experience of the pandemic. International cooperation is considered to be a key factor for future pandemic preparedness. Being part of a women's network such as WGH was perceived as being very supportive in difficult situations during the pandemic., Conclusion: This study provides unique insights into the experiences of women working in global health in different European countries. The COVID-19 pandemic influences their professional and private lives. Perceived gender differences are reported and suggest the need for integrating gender perspectives in pandemic preparedness. Networks for women, such as WGH, can facilitate the exchange of information in crises and provide women with professional and personal support., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Hoffmann, Schneider, Wannous, Nyberger, Haavardsson, Gilmore, Quigley, Winkler and Ludwig.)

One Health is increasingly recognized as an optimal approach to address the global risk of health threats originating at the human, animal, and ecosystem interface, and their impact. Qatar has successfully practiced One Health approach for investigation and surveillance of zoonotic diseases such as MERS-CoV, and other health threats. However, the current gaps at institution and policy level hinder the sustainment of One Health. In this paper, we have assessed the potential for implementation of One Health Framework to reinforce and sustain One Health capacities in Qatar for 2022-2027. To implement One Health Framework in the country, Qatar Joint External Evaluation (JEE) report, lessons learnt during One Health experiences on zoonotic, vector-borne, and food borne diseases were used to present an outline for multisectoral coordination. In addition, technical capacities of One Health and factors that are required to operationalize it in the country were also assessed in series of meetings and workshops held at Ministry of Public Health on March 2022. Present health care infrastructure and resources were found to be conducive for effective management and response to shared health threats as evident during MERS-CoV, despite being more event based. Regardless, the need for more sustainable capacity development was unanimously emphasized. The consensus between all relevant stakeholders and partners was that there is a need for better communication channels, policies and protocols for data sharing, and the need to invest more resources for better sustainability. The proposed framework is expected to strengthen and facilitate multilateral coordination, enhanced laboratory capacity and network, improve active surveillance and response, risk communication, community engagement, maximize applied research, and build One Health technical work force. This would enable advancement and sustainment of One Health activities to prevent and control health threats shared between humans-animals-ecosystem interface., Competing Interests: The authors declare there is no conflict of interest., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Strong scientific evidence affirms that climate change is now a public health emergency. Increasingly, climate litigation brought against governments and corporations utilizes international human rights, environmental and climate laws and policies to seek accountability for climate-destructive and health-harming actions. The health impacts of climate change make litigation an important means of pursuing justice and strategically challenging legal systems. Yet there is scant documentation in the literature of the role that public health has played in climate litigation and the legal weight public health narratives are given in such contexts. Therefore, we assessed to what extent courts of law have used public health harm in legal adjudication and sought to provide practical recommendations to address barriers to positioning legal arguments in public health-centric frames., Methods: We reviewed legal databases to identify all publicly reported, documented, cases of climate litigation filed in any country or jurisdiction between 1990 and September 2020. For the 1641 cases identified, we quantified the frequency of cases where health concerns were explicitly or implicitly raised., Findings: Case numbers are trending upwards, notably in high income countries. Resolution remains pending in over half of cases as the majority were initiated in the past three years. Cases were primarily based in climate and human rights law and brought by a wide range of groups and individuals predominantly against governments. About half of the decided cases found in favour for the plaintiffs. Based on this, we selected the 65 cases that were directly linked to public health. We found economic forces and pricing of health risks play a key role, as courts are challenged by litigants to adjudicate on the responsibility for health impacts., Conclusions: While courts of law are receptive to public health science, significant legal reform is needed to enhance leveraging of public health evidence in legal judgements of climate litigation cases. The integration of a public health mandate into a new eco-centric legal paradigm will optimize its potential to promote human well-being-the core objective underpinning both international law, human rights, and public health. Existing legal doctrines and practices can be enhanced to increase the weight of public health arguments in climate legal action and consequently ensure legal rulings in climate litigation prioritize, protect and promote public health., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has recently developed a Wildlife Health Framework to respond to the need of members to manage the risk from emerging diseases at the animal-human-ecosystem interface. One of its objectives is to improve surveillance systems, early detection and notification of wildlife diseases. Members share information on disease occurrence by reporting through the OIE World Animal Health Information System (OIE-WAHIS-formerly known as 'WAHIS'). To evaluate the capacity of a surveillance system to detect disease events, it is important to quantify the gap between all known events and those officially notified to the OIE. This study used capture-recapture analysis to estimate the sensitivity of the OIE-WAHIS system for a OIE-listed wildlife disease by comparing information from publicly available sources to identify undetected events. This article presents a case study of the occurrence of tularemia in lagomorphs among selected North American and European countries during the period 2014-2019. First, an analysis using three data sources (OIE-WAHIS, ProMED, WHO-EIOS [Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources]) was conducted. Subsequent analysis then explored the model integrating information from a fourth source (scientific literature collected in PubMed). Two models were built to evaluate both the sensitivity of the OIE-WAHIS using media reports (ProMED and WHO-EIOS), which is likely to represent current closer to real-time events, and published scientific data, which is more useful for retrospective analysis. Using the three-source approach, the predicted number of tularemia events was 93 (95% CI: 75-114), with an OIE-WAHIS sensitivity of 90%. In the four-source approach, the number of predicted events increased to 120 (95% CI: 99-143), dropping the sensitivity of the OIE-WAHIS to 70%. The results indicate a good sensitivity of the OIE-WAHIS system using the three-source approach, but lower sensitivity when including information from the scientific literature. Further analysis should be undertaken to identify diseases and regions for which international reporting presents a low sensitivity. This will enable evaluation and prioritization of underreported OIE-listed wildlife diseases and identify areas of focus as part of the Wildlife Health Framework. This study also highlights the need for stronger collaborations between academia and National Veterinary Services to enhance surveillance systems for notifiable diseases., (© 2022 The Authors. Zoonoses and Public Health published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: Multidisciplinary and multisectoral approaches such as One Health and related concepts (e.g., Planetary Health, EcoHealth) offer opportunities for synergistic expertise to address complex health threats. The connections between humans, animals, and the environment necessitate collaboration among sectors to comprehensively understand and reduce risks and consequences on health and wellbeing. One Health approaches are increasingly emphasized for national and international plans and strategies related to zoonotic diseases, food safety, antimicrobial resistance, and climate change, but to date, the possible applications in clinical practice and benefits impacting human health are largely missing., Methods: In 2018 the "Application of the One Health Approach to Global Health Centers" conference held at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine convened experts involved in One Health policy and practice. The conference examined issues relevant to One Health approaches, sharing examples of challenges and successes to guide application to medical school curricula and clinical practice for human health. This paper presents a synthesis of conference proceedings, framed around objectives identified from presentations and audience feedback., Findings and Recommendations: The following objectives provide opportunities for One Health involvement and benefits for medical schools and global health centers by: 1) Improving One Health resource sharing in global health and medical education; 2) Creating pathways for information flow in clinical medicine and global health practice; 3) Developing innovative partnerships for improved health sector outcomes; and 4) Informing and empowering health through public outreach. These objectives can leverage existing resources to deliver value to additional settings and stakeholders through resource efficiency, more holistic and effective service delivery, and greater ability to manage determinants of poor health status. We encourage medical and global health educators, practitioners, and students to explore entry points where One Health can add value to their work from local to global scale., Competing Interests: All authors also completed COI forms for their speaking and organizing roles in the conference that this paper developed from., (Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s).)

Oman, like other countries in the world, was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the WHO's declaration of the pandemic, the Ministry of Health of Oman has initiated its preparedness and response to the pandemic, with community participation as one of the key components of the national preparedness and response plan. This paper is a descriptive study aims at describing the three community approaches that exist in Oman and reviewing their role in preparedness and response strategies to COVID-19 pandemic and discuss the lessons learned. Community participation approaches in Oman were translated into action during the pandemic through empowering community members, mobilizing resources, and strengthening the ownership among the local community to ensure effective advocacy, proper networking, and dissemination of information and, subsequently, actions at the level of the community. The first community participation approach is community organizations within the healthy cities and villages initiative, which facilitated networking and acted as a platform for community engagement, reviewing the health information and updating them accordingly to meet evloving demands. The second approach is Willayat (District) health committees, with their unique multi-sectoral structure, that enhanced collaboration at the state level with different community leaders and groups to develop pandemic action plans, which were implemented using available local resources. The third approach is community volunteers that remain the key information providers, particularly when physical access becomes limited due to physical distancing measures. Based on this review, we advocate to further strengthen these approaches and recommends that they are implemented for the protection and promotion of health and well-being, including for health emergencies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Al Siyabi, Al Mukhaini, Kanaan, Al Hatmi, Al Anqoudi, Al Kalbani, Al Bahri, Wannous and Al Awaidy.)

Human health and wellbeing and the health of the biosphere are inextricably linked. The state of Earth's life-support systems, including freshwater, oceans, land, biodiversity, atmosphere, and climate, affect human health. At the same time, human activities are adversely affecting natural systems. This review paper is the outcome of an interdisciplinary workshop under the auspices of the Future Earth Health Knowledge Action Network (Health KAN). It outlines a research agenda to address cross-cutting knowledge gaps to further understanding and management of the health risks of these global environmental changes through an expert consultation and review process. The research agenda has four main themes: (1) risk identification and management (including related to water, hygiene, sanitation, and waste management); food production and consumption; oceans; and extreme weather events and climate change. (2) Strengthening climate-resilient health systems; (3) Monitoring, surveillance, and evaluation; and (4) risk communication. Research approaches need to be transdisciplinary, multi-scalar, inclusive, equitable, and broadly communicated. Promoting resilient and sustainable development are critical for achieving human and planetary health.

A One Health approach is critical to strengthening health security at country, regional, and global levels. However, operationally its uptake remains limited. Recent momentum in assessing capacity to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats has resulted in identification of gaps that require dedicated action. This article highlights relevant tools, standards, and guidance to assist countries and institutions in meeting the collective vision articulated at the 2018 Prince Mahidol Award Conference on "Making the World Safe from the Threats of Emerging Infectious Diseases." Taking stock of assessment findings, resources, priorities, and implementation initiatives across human and animal health, environment and disaster risk reduction sectors can help expand participation in global health security, target risk drivers, and form synergies for collective action and shared gains for both emerging and endemic disease challenges. In addition to health security gains, a multisectoral, One Health approach can drive benefits for wider health sector and global development goals.

Animal products are critical to the nutrition,food security, livelihoods and resilience of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. Livestock accounts for 40% of worldwide income from agriculture. Demand for animal products is set to continue increasing in the next three decades, as is their market price. If not carefully managed, a worldwide increase in the production of animal-derived products would increase pressure on natural resources (particularly water and land), significantly raising levels of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the risk of people contracting zoonotic diseases. These realities are informing governments as they encourage the managed intensification of livestock production. They seek to do this in ways that take account of poorer people's contributions to the growth of rural economies. They look for ways to link together work on agricultural productivity, efficient food systems; infrastructure development; access to energy, water and affordable health care; and the sustenance of environmental services (including the mitigation of any further stimuli for changes in the global climate). Managed intensification of livestock production would also require long-term application of a One Health approach with its focus on mitigating health risks at the interfaces between animals and humans in different ecosystems. It will stimulate the joint working of multiple interests in pursuit of a common goal - ending hunger and malnutrition. The authors would like to see the One Health approach being incorporated within all nations' animal, environmental and public health policies and into the educational agendas of medical and veterinary undergraduate students. It must also be incorporated into preparedness, contingency planning, desk-top exercises and on-site simulations to get ready for the next mega disaster - no matter how improbable it might seem.