The ASEAN-Australia One Health Fellowship Program was established in 2021 at Murdoch University with funding from the Australian Government under the ASEAN Partnerships for Recovery.

The program aims to strengthen regional One Health technical capacity and coordination with an emphasis on supporting ASEAN’s regional public health and health security agenda.

It is expected that Fellows will be able to better address specific zoonotic risk factors in our region. A One Health approach recognises that the health of people, animals and the environment are all interconnected.

It will support 40 One Health fellowships for eligible ASEAN member state officials with expertise in epidemiology, public health, animal health, environmental health, wildlife medicine, health economics, and biosecurity.

The first cohort of 19 One Health Fellows commenced in 2022 and we are seeking applicants for the second cohort who will begin their fellowships in February 2023.

The non-residential Fellowship is for 2.5 years and comprises three components: online training, fellows’ mentorship program and hands-on research projects.

The ASEAN- Australia One Health Fellowship Program is pleased to invite nominations including self-nominations with a letter of support.

Applications open on the 20th of August 2022 and close on the 30th of September 2022.

Download the information pack in Word doc or PDF format for details on how to apply.

Applications should be sent to ASEAN-AUS@murdoch.edu.au.

For any queries, please write to Dr Mieghan Bruce at Mieghan.Bruce@murdoch.edu.au; Dr Kirsty Bayliss at Kirsty.Bayliss@murdoch.edu.au; or Dr Renata Fernandes Santos at Renata.FernandesSantos@murdoch.edu.au.

Photo: Dr Mieghan Bruce / Murdoch University.

The United Nations Environment Programme has become the newest member of the renamed Quadripartite Alliance on One Health.

On 18 March 2002, the One Health ‘Tripartite’ of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) formally became the Quadripartite with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The rotating chair has also been handed over from FAO to WHO.

The Australian Ambassador for Regional Health Security Dr Stephanie Williams welcomed the move on World Health Day 2022 when the World Health Organization is using the theme ‘Our planet, our health’ to focus global attention on urgent actions needed to keep humans and the planet healthy. “Interconnections and vulnerabilities evident in the relationship between human, animal and environmental health were demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The launch of the new Quadripartite is to be celebrated as a step in the right direction, bringing together all the relevant institutions to ensure sustainable solutions to global health issues, among other important issues,” Dr Williams said.

The Australian Ambassador for the Environment Jamie Isbister noted that collaboration was needed to improve environmental health issues, for example, when addressing air, water and plastic pollution.

"The recent IPCC report highlights the need for strong partnerships including in how we address the increasing impact climate change is having across human and environmental health. Australia looks forward to standing and working together with the Quadripartite Alliance to ensure we thrive together."

The four organisations released a statement in December 2021 stating: “‘One Health’ stands for an integrative and systemic approach to health, grounded on the understanding that human health is closely linked to the healthiness of food, animals and the environment, and the healthy balance of their impact on the ecosystems they share, everywhere in the world."

The work of the newly-expanded alliance will be focused on a One Health Joint Plan of Action, which includes six main action tracks:

1. enhancing countries’ capacity to strengthen health systems under a One Health approach;
2. reducing the risks from emerging or resurfacing zoonotic epidemics and pandemics;
3. controlling and eliminating endemic zoonotic, neglected tropical or vector-borne diseases;
4. strengthening the assessment, management and communication of food safety risks;
5. curbing the silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR); and
6. better integrating the environment into the One Health approach.
   
   This follows on from the heads of FAO, OIE, UNEP and WHO, who met in November 2020 at the Paris Peace Forum, enhancing their cross-sectoral collaboration by creating a multidisciplinary One Health High-Level Expert Panel with the support of the governments of France and Germany.
   
   Professor John MacKenzie, a member of the Centre’s Technical Reference Group, was selected to join the panel. Read more on his role here.

Approximately 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonoses or diseases that spread from animals to humans. To better prevent and control infectious disease, systems for human health and animal health need to be closely linked.

Australia’s Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security is partnering with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to strengthen health security in the region, including through National Bridging Workshops (NBW) that aim to bring human and animal health colleagues together to identify priority areas for action and collaboration. OIE’s work will focus on countries of the Indo-Pacific with a program of National Bridging Workshops and support in Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

With Australian support, a regional workshop was held in Bangkok from 10 to 13 December 2019. The regional workshop included a simulation of assessing a hypothetical country’s Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS), and a session on how to manage an evaluation after an assessment of the animal health system.

OIE’s Sub-Regional Representative for Southeast Asia, Dr Ronello Abila, said the workshop aimed to provide participants from across Southeast Asia with a deeper understanding of the PVS Pathway Cycle.

"The OIE is very happy with continuing support from the Australian government provided to strengthen the capacities of veterinary services in the region,” Dr Abila said.

“Capacity building is a long-term process and this project will build on the achievements of previous initiatives supported by Australia to improve training and knowledge in veterinary services across Southeast Asia and the Pacific,” he said.

The Partnership is one of the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security’s One Health approaches to system strengthening. One Health recognises that the health of people, animals and the environment are interconnected.

“Our partnership with OIE is a critical part of Australia’s regional commitment to health security and a recognition of the value we place on a One Health approach and deepening links between human health and animal health systems,” said Robin Davies, Head of the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security.