31.10.2024Thomas Van Boeckel on One Health, his research and his vision for the One Health Institute

To mark the annual One Health Day, General Manager Laura Tüshaus-Rudin talks to Professor Thomas Van Boeckel from the One Health Institute about One Health, his research and his vision for the institute.

Thomas Van Boeckel, could you explain what the concept of "One Health" entails?

Thomas Van Boeckel: The concept of "One Health" views the health of humans, animals, and the environment as interconnected. It recognizes that the health of these three components is closely linked and that tackling zoonotic infections—those can be transmitted from animals to humans—require a multidisciplinary response. This means that veterinarians, medical doctors, environmental scientists, and many other experts can benefit from working together to address global health challenges.

What role does disease mapping play in your research?

Thomas Van Boeckel: Disease mapping is essential for understanding disease distribution and prioritizing surveillance efforts. For example, we create global maps of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) for animals from low- and middle-income countries. These maps help us identify high-risk areas, target surveillance efforts, and plan potential interventions.

You mentioned antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Why is this so important?

Thomas Van Boeckel: AMR is one of the biggest challenges of our time because it threatens the effectiveness of many commonly used drugs against infectious diseases. A recent article in The Lancet states that in 2019, of the estimated 4.95 million deaths due to the global burden of drug-resistant infections identified for 88 pathogen-drug combinations, 1.27 million deaths were directly attributable to drug resistance. This would make AMR the third leading cause of death in the tier 3 global burden of disease in 2019. In addition, Murray et al. showed in their analysis that AMR death rates for all age groups were highest in some low- and middle-income countries, making AMR not only a major global health problem, but also a particularly serious problem for some of the world's poorest countries (Murray et al., Lancet. 2022 Feb 12;399(10325):629-655. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02724-0). More than 73% of antimicrobials sold worldwide are used in animal production, leading to a significant rise in resistance in animals. If these resistant bacteria are transmitted to humans, it can lead to severe infections that are difficult or even impossible to treat.

What are your main goals with your work at the One Health Institute?

Thomas Van Boeckel: Beyond scientific outputs, one key personal goal is to promote open access and international collaboration to make global health data more accessible and useful. For example, we’ve established resistancebank.org, an open-access database for AMR data, which benefits researchers worldwide. Together with the two colleagues who will be appointed in the future to work on the topics “One Health with Focus in Evolution” and “One Digital Health”, we aim to guide policy in the field of human and animal health by generating insights and to help deploy resources efficiently to address urgent One Health challenges.

Thomas Van Boeckel, thank you for you the interview and all the best for your research at the One Health Institute!

Interview: Laura Tüshaus-Rudin