Protecting human, animal and environmental health in India

Context

Human, animal and environmental health are interdependent.

India has a high population density and a large number of domestic and wild animals. There is a high risk of zoonotic diseases, which are illnesses transmitted from animals to humans. Furthermore, general environmental conditions such as water, air and soil quality are highly significant for human and animal health.

Objective

Indian institutions collaborate more effectively to reduce risks to human, animal and environmental health.

Approach

The project improves the structural conditions in India and imparts the skills needed to reduce risks to human, animal and environmental health. The project uses the following approaches:

1) It promotes collaboration among the relevant Indian ministries and interest groups regarding health topics.

2) It imparts knowledge and skills pertaining to agroecology and the interdependence of human, animal and environmental health (One Health approach). To achieve this, it develops and improves curricula in cooperation with Indian training institutions.

3) It runs pilot projects in which people from various areas work together. For example:

• In Goa, a project is working to reduce the risk of infection with the tick-borne Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD). It particularly affects people who work in or live near forests, as well as susceptible species of monkey.
• In Madhya Pradesh, a project supports people in agriculture and decision-makers in preventing the entry of deworming drugs such as Albendazole into the food chain and the environment.

The lessons learnt from these pilot projects are used to disseminate successful approaches.

Last update: April 2025