Anthropocentric framings of One Health: an analysis of international antimicrobial resistance policy documents

Abstract

ABSTRACT One Health (OH) is an increasingly popular approach for addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which is often presented as a shared health concern at the interface of human-animal-environment relations. OH is widely adopted as a framework for collaboration between organisations like the World Health Organisation and the World Organisation for Animal Health; furthermore it occupies a central position in international AMR policy documents. Scholars like Craddock and Hinchliffe have raised questions about whether a unified OH understanding of health allows us to comprehend the diversity of practices and knowledge involved in interdisciplinary and interorganisational collaborations. In this article, we aim to explore how the OH idea as a shared health concern is conceptualised in international responses to AMR. Therefore, we conducted a constructivist policy analysis of two types of international policy documents – 11 documents dedicated to AMR and a OH approach to it, and 12 documents with a focus on more general health issues that AMR regulations are built upon. The analysis of this policy arena makes clear that both sets of documents put human health at the centre, while the animal and environmental sectors are primarily framed as a risk for human health. Although human health is, more or less explicitly, considered to be the main problem, the animal and environmental health sectors are assigned responsibility for addressing this problem.