PORTO - The transdisciplinary One Health concept allows the understanding of complex health problems affecting humans, animals, plants, and the environment. Indeed, all these compartments are linked, and we must evolve from the perspective “humans first” to a holistic approach that all living organisms have a role in the Biosphere.
Africa is considered the poorest continent on Earth. Every second person living in sub-Saharan Africa lives below the poverty line, and the human health and veterinary services are, in most cases, basic. However, this is an opportunity to build bridges between people, animals, plants, and their environments. Currently, about 60% of the population is rural, were the connectivity is higher. In several parts of the continent, children and livestock vaccination occurs simultaneously, febrile patients are now screened for brucellosis along with malaria and typhoid fever, in cooperation with veterinary labs, in many cattle prone areas.
The emergence of novel infectious diseases as well as the re-emergence of others, many of them having animals as reservoirs or vectors, will probably increase in the near future. The advance of the Sahel towards the South, the change of the agroecological environment including the loss of forests, armed conflicts, the migration of humans towards the cites where water, sanitation, and food security is not granted, decreases the health status of entire populations. Indeed, cholera, measles, viral hemorrhagic diseases, malaria, and meningitis top the list of epidemics, exposing further the vulnerability of local health systems.
Africa endorsed One Health as a tool towards disease surveillance, prevention, control, and epidemic readiness to tackle disease. Despite all notorious advancements in recent years, gaps are still omnipresent, dealing with a lack of African funding, poor decision maker awareness, inadequate human and material resources, and general public understanding. Nevertheless, the One Health is the right path to tackle the health issues distressing the Biosphere, humans included.
One Health concept conference in Bissau, West Africa, May 2022.
The course, for students and graduates, will have a strong laboratory component aimed at protecting human and animal welfare.
A week of theoretical-practical component followed by at least 3 weeks of intense practical-laboratory work linked to the One Health. This is the challenge of the Summer Research School 1Health1Welfare that the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) will host between July 10th and September 8th. This is one of the first training opportunities resulting from the One Health strategy that the School has been reinforcing lately.
Based on the connection between animal and human well-being, widely associated with the One Health concept, the course aims to provide participants with the opportunity to acquire knowledge and research methods in one of these five areas: Immunology and infection; Animal nutrition; Parasitology; Conservation and management of wild populations; Animal welfare and human-animal interaction.
The research work can be carried out at ICBAS or at one of the institutions associated with the course, namely the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S) or the Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources of the University of Porto (CIBIO).
The objective, according to the researcher in charge, Anna Olson, is to “bring students and research closer together”: “Participants will gain a theoretical and practical basis in the One Health research methodology and will experience the scientific process in its real context”, ensures the coordinator.
The applicationsare open until the 19th of May and are intended for students, from the University of Porto and other institutions, who are attending, or who have completed, a cycle of studies (bachelor, master or doctorate) in the area of Life and Health sciences.
A new release by U. Porto Press proposes a reflection on the evolution of veterinary medicine and the relationship between humans and animals.
“What does a veterinarian do?”, “What animal species is he/she dedicated to?”, “How is his/her training structured?” or “Is it a difficult profession?”, reads on the back cover of Many Species, One Veterinary Medicine. This short questionnaire sets the tone for reading one of the most recent editorial novelties of the U.Porto Press, the number four of the Studies and Teaching collection of the publishing office.
“This book reflects, precisely, on the evolution of veterinary medicine and on the evolution of the relationship between humans and animals”, defends Paulo Martins da Costa, professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar and author of the publication.
In response to the question about whether Veterinary Medicine is a difficult profession, Paulo Martins da Costa says yes. “A veterinarian needs dedication, knowledge, worldview and a keen ethical sense”, adding that “it is less and less frequent for people to understand (and respect) animals in their essence, tending now to humanize them, now to mechanize them”.
According to the author, the profession is complex, being “at the center of a circle of important animals for man”. These animals fall into several quadrants, being attributed different “human meanings” to them – domestic, wild, experimental, sports, pests, disease vectors, adorable, symbolic, dangerous, faithful…
There is a lot of water on the Planet. But since it is 97% salty, it cannot be directly used by most land, air and freshwater aquatic beings. If 2000 years ago we had the same amount of water available as today, at the time for the consumption of 72 million inhabitants, the 8 billion people today have to share it among everyday uses, such as domestic, industrial and agricultural, requiring ever-increasing amounts. The pressure on the water resource has never been so high, but with ongoing climate change, globally applicable measures must be taken to protect the hydrosphere.
In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly approved a historic resolution considering access to drinking water as a human right, along with other enshrined rights. Part of the water returns to the aquatic environment, but with different chemical, physical and even microbiological characteristics. In other words, polluted. Contaminated water means a sick environment and, ultimately, leads to the degradation of the health of the Biosphere, the thin layer of the Earth where living beings are distributed.
The One Health is not a new concept, but it gained another meaning with the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is known that the most plausible hypothesis for the worldwide action of a virus that had never affected humans is that it was transmitted by an animal, like 75% of the infections that affect us. But the relationship between animals, humans and the environment is not limited to infectious diseases and has led various entities, such as the French NHS, to invest in new ways of investigating and protecting health.
The Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), in Porto, has been studying this 'global health' for four years, and on several fronts. With various investigations in progress, they introduced the 'One Health' subject in all courses and is the only faculty in ways of creating a MSc programme focused on this new way of seeing health.
Due to the work carried out, the director of ICBAS was the only Portuguese heard in the European Parliament talking about the concept and how it could be applied.
Henrique Cyrne Carvalho is a cardiologist and director of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar. Foto: Rui Duarte Silva (Expresso).
To Expresso, Henrique Cyrne Carvalho guarantees that thinking about human health without detaching it from animal and environmental health will have to dominate the research, training and policy strategies of the future.
PORTO - Biodiversity refers to all the living species (and its interactions) on Earth, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi. Whenever preserved, biodiversity forms balanced ecosystems that are the basis of a sustainable planet. The quality of the ecosystems translated in the quality of the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink.
Plants are essential for the production of oxygen and the absorption of air pollutants. Insects are the base of many food chains, and key for the pollination and for the dispersion of seeds. Coral reefs and mangroves protect from cyclones and tsunamis, causing waves to break offshore and soaking up wave energy.
But, Biodiversity is in danger due to the human activity that disturb the ecosystems. As the human population rises, wild areas are used to create farmland, housing and industrial spaces. Pollution, unsustainable hunting and fishing, water extraction, and global trade, are also other main threats to the balance of life on our planet. The loss of species is a dramatically irreversible process and the extinction rate now is estimated to be about 1,000 times higher than before humans dominated the planet.
Increasing protected areas and performing a sustainable use and management of non-protected areas are essential for the maintenance of biodiversity. But the protection of ecosystems is also in the hands of each one of us. Most territories are cleared for the production of cattle, soy, palm oil, or wood. Reducing the consumption of these products, choosing sustainable options, and diminishing waste of consumer goods have a positive impact on the preservation of biodiversity.
On February 28, 2023, the director of ICBAS, Professor Henrique Cyrne Carvalho, participated in a public hearing on One Health in the European Parliament, in Brussels.
The session “Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future”, aimed to discuss the link between the accelerated loss of biodiversity and the spread of zoonoses such as COVID-19, and their impacts on health human. The objective of this hearing was to gather contributions on how the European Union can implement the One Health One Health in its policies.
Prof. Henrique Cyrne Carvalho at the session “Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future”.
For Prof. Henrique Cyrne “This was a unique opportunity to share the One Health plan of action that we have in course at ICBAS and, above all, to contribute to our local action to reflect on the implementation of actions of global impact, notably through the European Union”.
This is a selection of images that portray the integrated vision of Health that ICBAS has been promoting. It is a result of the homonymous photography contest that took place in March and April 2022.
The photography contest 'Perspective(s) on One Health' intended to promote the dissemination of the concept in the U. Porto academic community. Around 250 images were received, of which ICBAS, together with the Portuguese Institute of Photography (IPF), a partner in this project, selected 20 for a traveling exhibition which could be visited in several places in the city of Porto.
The exhibition can now be visited, for the first time, outside Porto, at the Municipal Gallery of Alcochete City Council, between April 6 and 27, 2023 (Paços do Concelho – Largo de São João 5 – Alcochete). Free entrance.
This exhibition is an opportunity to promote a joint reflection on the One Health concept, as well as to alert civil society to the impact we all have on the health of humans, animals and the environment.
PORTO – É bem conhecido de todos que muitas doenças crónicas aparecem como consequência da exposição a elementos mutagénicos do ar, água e solo, podendo levar a doenças graves. O cancro é, talvez, o caso mais conhecido de uma doença em que a exposição ambiental tem um efeito mais notável. Mas o cancro está longe de ser o único exemplo, uma vez que a poluição também pode aumentar o risco de muitas outras doenças. Entre eles estão problemas respiratórios crónicos, doenças de pele e doenças cardiovasculares. Como todos dividimos o mesmo ambiente, o efeito patogénico dos poluentes também pode afetar os animais, como por exemplo, os nossos animais de companhia. Nesse cenário, como adotar uma abordagem One Health para prevenir o impacto nocivo da exposição ambiental?
Taking air pollution as example, a simple way could be to reflect upon everyday choices, like travelling. Most of us uses the car, but one can choose to travel by public transports, bike or walk, whenever possible, in order to contribute to the reduction of pollutants. This is expected to aid the environmental health and have a positive impact in the reduction of the risk of acute and chronic diseases that are predisposed by the quality of the air, in both humans and animals.
A pioneering project at the U.Porto aims to promote the community's mental health and well-being through contact and reconnection with nature.
The Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), in partnership with the 'Go Wild', recently launched the ‘Nature Baths’, a pioneering project at the University of Porto, which aims to promote mental health and well-being through the contact and reconnection with nature.
To test this new concept, ICBAS challenged a group of workers and students to disconnect from their concerns and tasks for 90 minutes, to let themselves be guided in a reconnection with Nature. The day was inviting and expectations were high, despite some skepticism.
There were 90 minutes of presence and active involvement with neighboring gardens of the Crystal Palace in an attempt to return tranquility and reduce the levels of stress and mental fatigue of the academic community of the Institute.
Grupo de trabalhadores e estudantes no primeiro ‘Banho de Natureza’. Foto: ICBAS.
How it all began…
The pandemic drove the Go Wild project, at a time when Nadja Imhof, one of the founders, felt very disconnected from nature: “I did some research and realized that nature baths were a very common practice in other countries and with a scientific basis solid, so I decided to start the six-month online training to become a certified guide”.
After completing the training, Nadja and Vanessa, a psychologist and partner in this project, began by defining a strategy that involved finding places in the city conducive to this practice and finding the target audience.
“Students, who during the pandemic were very isolated and suffering from anxiety, seemed to us to be the ideal target , so we started looking for ways to reach them and that's how we came across ICBAS. Furthermore, we knew that for this to work, we had to look for places close to the city, or in the city itself, which would therefore motivate people to participate”, explains Nadja Imhof.
Today, this is a more robust project that has been growing “albeit slowly. After all, this is a new practice in Portugal and people are not very comfortable with this proximity”, emphasizes the founder of the project.
‘Baths of Nature’ wellness promoters
But shyness, shame or resistance aside, the 'Nature Baths' have gathered an ever-growing community of followers, thanks to the multiple physical and mental benefits they represent.
“The benefits are global, mental and physical. Physical because even without running we are moving our body. Mental because it has been proven that this contact with nature reduces anxiety and all feelings related to depression or stress. What helps us sleep better, increases our ability to concentrate and creativity”, clarifies Nadja Imhof.
Also for João Silva, student at the Faculty of Sciences of the U.Porto (FCUP) and collaborator of researcher Karine Silva, from the Department of Behavioral Sciences at ICBAS, becoming a guide for the Nature Baths has been an “incredible” experience.
“Realizing that the connection with nature has so many benefits, with such solid scientific bases, was very important for my work. At this moment I would like this project to reach more people, and above all to see these people bathing in nature by themselves. Give them the recipe so they can make it a routine”, says the student.
“Test” passed successfully
The truth is that, after an hour and a half spent in deep contact with nature, the opinions were unanimous: “this activity was an excellent initiative, which without a doubt makes us feel better, calmer, more serene, better prepared and motivated to the work."
For the participants, this is “an excellent way to gain energy, to feel better about ourselves”, as highlighted by Nuno Ferreira, from the ICBAS IT Department.
“It offered us new tools to reduce anxiety”, points out Sara Pereira, from the International Relations and Mobility Office, about an experience that promises to be repeated.
A commitment shared by Zélia Lopes, from the Postgraduate and Continuing Education Unit “I loved it, I feel very calm and decided that I'm going to start coming to the Crystal Palace more often to connect with nature. Undoubtedly, this action was the driving force behind this decision”.
Also for the student of the Integrated Master in Medicine, Maria João Estêvão, this is an activity that she will recommend to her colleagues: “It was a different morning and it was very positive to come here and slow down a little. I had never looked at the Palace in this way. I totally recommend it, I think this is a very important strategy to reduce anxiety.”
Source: Notícias UP
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