One Health Approach — Human, Animal, Environmental Integration in India’s Pandemic Preparedness (UPSC Indian Society)

75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic — they spill over from animals to humans. SARS, H1N1, Ebola, Nipah, MERS and COVID-19 all share this pathway. For decades, human, animal and environmental health operated in policy silos. The One Health approach insists they must be integrated — in surveillance, response and preparedness.

India, with the largest livestock population in the world, extensive wildlife interfaces, and heavy antibiotic use, is a critical theatre for One Health. This guide explains the concept, maps India's One Health architecture, and tracks contemporary reforms like the National One Health Mission (2024).

What is One Health?

One Health is defined by the One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP, 2021) as:

"An integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems. It recognises that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and interdependent."

The approach emerged from the Manhattan Principles (2004) laid down by the Wildlife Conservation Society and was formally adopted by WHO, FAO, WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health) and UNEP under the Quadripartite Collaboration (2022).

Why One Health Now?

• Zoonotic spillover risk: 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic.
• Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): deaths from AMR projected to exceed 10 million annually by 2050.
• Climate change shifting disease vectors (dengue, malaria, Japanese encephalitis).
• Food safety — shared pathogens (Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli).
• Ecosystem disruption — deforestation, wildlife trade increasing interface.

Zoonotic Disease Burden in India

• Nipah virus — repeated outbreaks in Kerala (2018, 2021, 2023, 2024); reservoir in fruit bats.
• Avian influenza (H5N1, H5N8) — periodic poultry outbreaks.
• Rabies — India accounts for ~36% of global rabies deaths (about 20,000 annually).
• Leptospirosis — post-monsoon outbreaks.
• Brucellosis — significant in livestock-dependent communities.
• Kyasanur Forest Disease (monkey fever) — Western Ghats.
• Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) — Gujarat.
• Zika virus — sporadic outbreaks (Rajasthan 2018, Kerala 2021).

AMR in India

• India is one of the world's largest consumers of antibiotics.
• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network.
• National Action Plan on AMR (NAP-AMR) 2017-21 (extension being finalised).
• Red Line Campaign — mandatory red line on Schedule H1 drug packaging.
• FSSAI regulation on antibiotics in dairy, meat, aquaculture.

India's One Health Architecture

Institutional Framework

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare — human health lead.
• National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) — surveillance.
• ICMR — research.
• Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) — animal health.
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change — wildlife and environmental health.
• Ministry of Jal Shakti — water.
• AYUSH Ministry — traditional medicine.
• FSSAI — food safety.

National One Health Mission (2024)

Approved in 2024 and being operationalised under the coordination of the Principal Scientific Adviser's office. Core components:

• Integrated surveillance across human, animal, wildlife, food and environmental domains.
• BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratory network — expanded capacity for high-containment research.
• Genomic surveillance — INSACOG-style across species.
• Rapid response teams at national, state, district levels.
• Community engagement and risk communication.
• Integration with WHO, FAO, WOAH, UNEP.

Key Initiatives

• Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) — human health surveillance.
• National Animal Disease Control Programme.
• National Centre for Animal Disease Investigation and Control.
• Wildlife Disease Surveillance through NWRC Bareilly.
• One Health Consortium — ICMR-led multi-institution partnership.
• National Institute for One Health (Nagpur) — proposed.
• National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune — BSL-4 capability.

Recent Outbreaks and Responses

Nipah (Kerala, 2024): rapid containment, contact tracing, bat surveillance.

H5N1: India has seen periodic outbreaks in poultry; culling and surveillance measures activated.

African Swine Fever — reported in Northeast states; containment through culling.

Lumpy Skin Disease — major cattle outbreak 2022-23; indigenous vaccine development (Lumpi-ProVacInd).

Environmental and Climate Dimensions

• Deforestation creates human-wildlife interface.
• Climate change shifts vector-borne disease geography.
• Air pollution — respiratory morbidity.
• Water contamination — waterborne diseases.
• Heat stress — emerging occupational hazard.

Global Commitments

• International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 — notification obligation.
• WHO Pandemic Treaty (INB) — ongoing negotiation.
• Tripartite (WHO-FAO-WOAH) — now Quadripartite with UNEP.
• Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA).

Challenges

Institutional Silos

• Health, animal husbandry, environment ministries operate separately.
• Data systems not interoperable.
• Different terminologies and reporting formats.

Data Gaps

• Zoonotic disease reporting is fragmented.
• Wildlife disease surveillance is thin.
• Antimicrobial use data in livestock poor.

Laboratory Capacity

• BSL-3/BSL-4 infrastructure limited.
• Diagnostic decentralisation incomplete.

Workforce

• Veterinary public health training scarce.
• Human medical curricula light on zoonotic diseases.

Community Engagement

• Public awareness of zoonotic risks uneven.
• Traditional medicine practices sometimes reinforce wildlife trade.

Latest Developments (2024-26)

National One Health Mission (2024). Operational phase launched. Integrated surveillance, BSL-3/BSL-4 expansion, genomic surveillance.

Nipah 2024. Outbreak in Kerala contained with rapid response; continued bat surveillance.

NAP-AMR 2.0. Being finalised; focus on stewardship, surveillance and regulatory strengthening.

PM-ABHIM. Rs 64,180 crore mission includes BSL-3 and integrated public health lab expansion through 2025-26.

National Institute for One Health, Nagpur. Under development.

FSSAI Regulation. Tighter antibiotic residue standards in dairy, meat, aquaculture.

Climate and Health Plan. National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health under implementation.

Caste Census 2025. Union Cabinet approved caste enumeration in the next national census (April 2025); health equity data will inform One Health programme targeting.

MPI 2024. Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2024 confirmed 415 million Indians exited multidimensional poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21; zoonotic risk concentrates in poverty-adjacent populations.

Women's Reservation Act. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023 — post-delimitation implementation; women handle livestock and water in many households, making them frontline One Health actors.

Global Gender Gap Index 2024. India ranked 129/146; women’s leadership in One Health (veterinary, environmental, community health) has been under-recognised.

Policy Recommendations

• Institutional integration — joint One Health coordination cell at PMO/PSA level.
• Interoperable data across human, animal, environment systems.
• Expand BSL-3/BSL-4 infrastructure.
• Veterinary public health cadre with human-animal crossover training.
• AMR stewardship — hospital, community, livestock.
• Wildlife disease surveillance through citizen science and forest department collaboration.
• Climate-health integration — heat action plans, vector-borne disease early warning.
• Community risk communication in local languages.

UPSC Relevance

GS Paper II — Governance, Social Justice

• Issues relating to development and management of social sectors — health.
• International institutions, agencies (WHO, FAO, WOAH, UNEP).

GS Paper III — Environment, Science and Technology

• Conservation, biotechnology.
• Disaster and disaster management.

Possible mains questions

1. "One Health is an organising principle, not a programme. Discuss India's approach." (250 words)
2. "AMR is the silent pandemic. Examine India's response." (150 words)
3. "Zoonotic diseases require institutional integration across ministries. Evaluate." (150 words)

Prelims pointers. One Health — Quadripartite (WHO-FAO-WOAH-UNEP); OHHLEP (2021); Manhattan Principles (2004); NCDC; ICMR; Lumpi-ProVacInd; INSACOG; IHR 2005; National One Health Mission (2024); Red Line Campaign; NAP-AMR 2017-21; NIV Pune (BSL-4); Nipah — fruit bats; Rabies — 20,000 India deaths annually.

Essay themes. "One health, many hands"; "Shared pathogens, shared responsibility"; "Ecosystems of health".

One Health is the defensive architecture of a post-pandemic world. India's approach — institutional integration, laboratory capacity and community engagement — will define whether the next spillover becomes an outbreak or a pandemic.