One Health Observatories—The Example of Southeast Asia

Abstract

One Health Observatories operationalize the One Health approach. The One Health Joint Plan of Action drafted by the Quadripartite (WHO, FAO, WOAH, and UNEP) insists on the need to strengthen scientific evidence-based knowledge and its translation into data for evidence, technical tools, protocols, guidelines, and information and surveillance systems for the effective implementation of One Health at all levels. One Health Observatories are crucial for this task. Drawing from the experience of the existing One Health Observatory in Thailand—a unique, on-the-ground initiative—we outline the key features of this model for potential replication in other regions or countries. Such observatories play a critical role in advancing ecosystem-based innovations and locally adapted solutions, which are necessary to improve the prevention of disease transmission at the interface between human, animal, and ecosystem health.