One Health Framework and Animal Welfare: Connecting Human, Animal, and Environmental Health

The One Health approach recognises the interconnection of human, animal, and environmental health. Animal welfare improvements often yield simultaneous benefits for human and ecosystem health.

Key Facts

70% of emerging infectious diseases originate from animals, most from wildlife or livestock
Antimicrobial resistance driven by livestock antibiotic overuse threatens both human and animal health
Improved animal housing reducing stress also reduces disease transmission and antibiotic use
Zoonotic disease prevention through better animal welfare offers major human health benefits
The One Health approach is endorsed by WHO, FAO, and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)

Welfare Considerations

The One Health framework provides a powerful lens for understanding how animal welfare improvements generate broader benefits. Reducing stress through better housing, nutrition, and veterinary access decreases infectious disease susceptibility in animals and pathogen transmission to humans. Reducing routine antibiotic use in livestock - often driven by poor welfare conditions - is essential for combating antimicrobial resistance. Wildlife welfare and habitat protection reduces spillover risks for zoonotic diseases. Sustainable food systems that respect animal welfare are also more environmentally sustainable and food secure. One Health thinking reframes animal welfare from a purely ethical concern to a practical public health priority.

What You Can Do

Support One Health initiatives integrating human, animal, and environmental health
Learn about the connections between livestock welfare and antimicrobial resistance
Advocate for agricultural policies that simultaneously improve animal and human health
Choose food from production systems with good health and welfare standards