Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying launches One Health pilot project in Karnataka

The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India is piloting this project with the financial support of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as the implementing partner

On 28^th June, Bengaluru witnessed the launch of ‘Orientation & Launch of One Health Pilot in Karnataka’ by Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India. Also, the capacity building plan in English and Kannada and One Health brochure was launched in Kannada language.

One-Health is a multi-sectoral approach that takes into consideration human, animal and environment health and the interconnectivity and interdependence of these three elements. The idea becomes especially important after the COVID pandemic for taking holistic approach.

Addressing the launch of the pilot project, Chaturvedi said, “The One Health India program initiated by the Department will work to improve livestock health, human health, wildlife health, and environmental health by institutionalising the coordination among animal, human & wildlife departments, improving disease diagnosis and surveillance, digitising the data collection & sharing mechanism and enabling enhanced communication among community members on the need to pay attention to zoonotic diseases and for implementing One Health. This pilot project will help institutionalise the coordination among various sectors thereby making data sharing and reporting procedure on disease outbreaks feasible. It will facilitate, strengthen, and integrate the laboratories in a network. The project aims to support the development of a targeted surveillance plan and integrate data with the digital architecture of the National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM). The pilot in Karnataka will form the basis for development of the One Health Framework for India.”

Dr Praveen Malik, Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Government of India said, “With the launch of the One Health Framework pilot in Karnataka, we look forward to integrating human, environmental, and animal health. Six interventions planned for the pilot will result in better coordination amongst different relevant sectors and capacity building of different teams. With the support of the state departments and all stakeholders, we look forward to the successful implementation of the pilot”.

Salma K Fahim, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries said, “We are proud that the One Health pilot project is being implemented in Karnataka. This pilot will go a long way in helping us improve facilities and infrastructure in our state.”

Vijaykumar Gogi, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (WL), Forest, Ecology, Environment Department, Government of Karnataka and Dr Manjunath S Palegar, Director, Animal Health, Government of Karnataka said they are excited to implement the One Health framework in the state and they indicated the commitment of the department to support this initiative.  Also, they look forward to integrating animal health with human and environment health.

On this occasion, Alkesh Wadhwani, Director, Poverty Alleviation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) expressed pleasure on the launch of this pilot and showed his support to Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying for the implementation of the National One Health Framework for India”.

The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India is piloting this project with the financial support of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as the implementing partner.

The One Health initiative of Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India aims to enable effective inter-ministerial coordination among various government departments at the national level, an institutionalisation mechanism has been established through an apex inter-ministerial governance committee, chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.  The Project Steering Committee (PSC) constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary, DAHD, works towards institutionalising interaction among the human, animal & wildlife departments at the centre, to enable collaborative and collective decision making, supervise progress and guide the team on interventions being deployed. A similar governance structure for states is also being stressed upon by creating a State Level One Health Committee (SLOHC).