The Centre for Pandemics and One-health Research (P1H) aims to conduct a series of interviews, “P1H Coffee Break”, with researchers to raise understanding and awareness regarding the field of pandemics and One-health.
What motivated you to research this topic?
Personally, nature has always been an important part of my life and my world. Professionally, the motivation dates back to 2019/2020, which was when we established the Lancet One Health Commission. The Commission was hosted at the Centre for Global Health, which is now a part of SUSTAINIT, located under Centre for Global Sustainability, UiO.
At the time, One Health was gaining a lot of attention, both scientifically and politically, but there was a real need to increase consensus around what exactly One Health is, and this motivated a lot of our work in the Lancet One Health Commission. Beyond that, the motivation was the paradox that we are living. We have seen unprecedented health gains in the past century, thanks to major technological advancements, vaccines, diagnostics, health infrastructures and mass food production. We know this is thanks to wide-scale transformations like globalisation, industrialisation, and urbanisation, which we also now understand have come at a tremendous cost.
We have cut down millions of forests and a million species are currently facing extinction. We have pumped our oceans full of pollutants, plastics and antimicrobials. We have exploited almost all global fisheries at or beyond sustainable limits. Essentially, we have compromised the life support systems on which our survival and health depend, for more or less short-term gains. A lot of our work is motivated by what we understand now, and the need to think and operate differently.
What is the aim of your research?
The aim of the work that we have been doing in recent years, in the context of the Lancet One Health Commission, has been to galvanise transformations: wide-scale transformations of our governance, economics, and knowledge systems. To do so, we need to increase understanding of the interconnections between humans, animals, and the environment. We also need to understand our role as humans in driving all of these crises: ecological crisis, geopolitical crisis, and health crisis. And we need to come together across scientific disciplines, knowledge traditions, government ministries, and all sectors of society to find sustainable solutions.
Why is this topic important?
It is important because we are facing pressing challenges linked to climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and water scarcity. Food security is at stake and the human health concerns span infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and non-communicable diseases. It is definitely a pivotal moment, and what we manage to do in this moment is going to define the conditions of possibility for health and well-being among future generations.
How are your studies related to pandemics and One Health?
Pandemics are a priority in One- Health research. One- Health, in its early years, was predominantly focused on zoonotic diseases. It was driven largely by the veterinary sector. In more recent years, it has expanded and oriented itself more towards the entire socio-ecological system, with wide aims of advancing health equity and sustainability. Infectious diseases, including those of pandemic potential, are arguably a primary concern still within One- Health. It is important to understand the human-animal- environment interconnections that are at the root of zoonotic disease emergence, spillover, and spread. It is particularly important to understand our pivotal role as humans in driving emergence, spillover, and spread.
If we look at COVID-19 as an example, a lot of problematic things happened and insufficient understandings contributed. We witnessed a lot of racism and a narrow framing of the challenges associated with wet markets, which did not provide a sufficiently nuanced account of what the informal food sector is and the important role it plays in livelihoods and well-being around the world. We also saw a vilification of wildlife as the harbours of infectious diseases. What we did not see enough of was the fact that we are the ones who are encroaching on wildlife habitat. Who are converting it into agricultural land or industrial zones or cities, bringing ourselves and our livestock into closer contact with wildlife, creating increased opportunities for infectious pathogens to spill over, and then moving them all around the world at unprecedentedly rapid rates.
There is an important role that One- Health has to play in understanding the dynamics of pandemics and infectious diseases. About 70% of emerging zoonotic diseases originate in wildlife and almost all known pandemics have been of animal origin. One Health can help to widen the narrative around this, building understanding the role that things like human-driven climate change and biodiversity loss are playing in increasing our risk of pandemics.
Could you tell us about your current or previous studies in the field of One-Health or pandemics?
I have a social science background in medical anthropology. I think that is notable because, although One- Health does represent an interdisciplinary perspective and approach, the social sciences have traditionally been underrepresented. But as we saw with COVID-19 and with respect to pandemics in general, we need the dimension of social and human understanding that comes from the social sciences.
If you were to describe your research with three words, what would those words be?
The three words I would choose would be health, sustainability and equity. These words were prominent in the title of our Lancet One Health Commission report.
We perceived equity as threefold – planetary, global, and intergenerational . Planetary equity implies that we recognize the intrinsic value of animals and nature, as opposed to just caring on an as-needed basis when humans are impacted. In a global sense, the equity ambition extends to all humans everywhere, and in an intergenerational sense, this is a question of how what we do presently is of significance for future generations.
Stewardship is a word that I would couple with sustainability, because it underscores our unique responsibility as humans.
And when referring to health, there is a need for a holistic approach to well-being among humans - physical, psychosocial, and spiritual - well as throughout the entire socio-ecological system, including animals and the environment.
You mentioned the Lancet One Health Commission Report. How would you like to describe your contribution to the work on that report?
I served as a commissioner on the commission and was also among the coauthors of the report. The report was published and launched in July, and it aimed to increase understanding of human- animal- environment connections across this vast range of interconnected phenomena. From climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and water scarcity, to infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and food systems challenges.
It is important to emphasise that, although we often focus on threats, it is important to have a positive orientation as well. It is not only threats that emerge at the human-animal- environment interface. Rather, human-animal- environment interconnections are mutually health advancing. For example, there is a growing evidence base around the tremendous health benefits that humans derive from nature and animals. On the other side of that coin, research also shows that, when humans spend more time in nature, they not only reap numerous health benefits , but are are also more likely to engage in pro-environment behaviours, like recycling. So, these interconnections really do cycle in positive, health-advancing directions as well.
In the report of the Lancet One Health Commission, we proposed three main avenues for transformation – governance, economic and knowledge avenues. Governance avenues are about the global architecture that we need to work together across sectors and in the ways that we know we need to, to achieve the kinds of changes that are necessary. Economic avenues are largely a question of what we value. Is it infinite economic growth defined by gross domestic product and an assumption that we can continue to consume and produce at increasing rates for all of time, or do we actually need to recognise that there are planetary systems at stake, ecological limits, and potentially other things that should be valued at a higher priority, like well-being or equity?
The third avenue, knowledge, is about working across scientific disciplines and knowledge traditions. It is important to recognise that, even though One- Health has a sense of novelty around it, human-animal-environment interconnection is something that people, for all of time and across all cultures and places, have in different ways known and understood. In particular, the Indigenous cultures of the world, although extremely heterogeneous, share a foundation of harmonious interrelation between humans and the natural world. So, it is important to not only work across scientific disciplines, but also across different knowledge traditions. Indigenous knowledges are critical, as are local communities and civil society. And One- Health Literacy, as we have called it, begins at birth and continues throughout the life course.
Thank you to Christina for participating in this interview. Check out our Instagram at @pandemicscentre.uio to see snippets of the interview.