One World, One Health, One Medicine

Abstract

Animal health and public health are truly at a crossroads. The convergence of animal, human and ecosystem health dictates that the "One World, One Health, One Medicine" concept must be embraced. As veterinarians, collaborating and cooperating with our colleagues in human medicine, public health and the environmental sciences is imperative. By working together, more can be accomplished to improve health worldwide than by working alone. The veterinary medical profession has the responsibility to assume a major leadership role in that effort. The AVMA has established the One Health Initiative Task Force. This is the first step of a one health initiative to establish a coordinated mechanism, which will facilitate communication, collaboration and cooperation among the various health science professions, academia, government agencies and industries with a focus on one health, one medicine.