A new report from the FAO Investment Center, in partnership with the two other organizations, highlighted the need to invest in the One Health approach to recognize the interconnections among human, animal, and plant health, as well as ecosystem health.

Entitled “Financial and Economic Returns to Investing in One Health: Evidence and Future Directions,” the study examines how this approach can reduce the burden of disease, healthcare costs, environmental pollution, and the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

The economic costs stemming from zoonotic and other infectious diseases amount to billions of dollars each year.

The World Bank assesses that antimicrobial resistance could lead to losses of around 3.8 percent of global GDP by 2050.

FAO Assistant Director-General, Director of its Animal Production and Health Division, and Chief Veterinarian, Thanawat Tiensin, warned that “today’s most pressing challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, food insecurity, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities, are deeply interconnected.”

WOAH Deputy Director-General Baba Soumare, in turn, underscored that animal health is one of the most effective entry points for prevention and stressed the importance of strengthening veterinary services, surveillance, and collaboration.

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