One Health - A contribution from the University ‘It's aimed at civil society and to reach many audiences,’ say Adriano Bordalo e Sá, Begoña Perez-Cabezas, Luísa Azevedo and Sofia Costa Lima, from the One Health Office at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), in the book's prologue.
This book aims to disseminate the importance of the One Health concept, in which ‘human health is linked to the health of other living beings and the health of the environment’, since ‘human beings do not live alone on the planet’, explain the editors, who are also lecturers and researchers at ICBAS.
The bathing season is halfway over, but the comings and goings of advisories and bans on Portuguese beaches, usually associated with microbiological issues, have already made 2024 the second-worst year of the last seven in terms of beach pollution. There were 84 episodes of bathing advisories and bans on bathing beaches in mainland Portugal up to 7 August, according to the annual data made available to PÚBLICO since 2018 by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA). This figure is just below the 94 cases of 2022 and can easily be surpassed in the coming weeks, making it possible to achieve a recent record for this year.
Two experimental sensor systems are assessing the water quality of two Portuguese beaches at a microbiological level, in an international project responsible for monitoring the River Seine tributaries during the Paris Olympics and the Seine itself before the games began.
The experiment, coordinated in Portugal by the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) at the University of Porto, aims to test not only the technology's ability to analyze the presence of bacteria accurately but also its ability to analyze the presence of the bacteria Escherichia coli in real-time, but also, based on this information, the technology's ability to predict the evolution of the presence of these bacteria in the following hours, as is done in meteorology.
The 2024 bathing season has begun, but the greatest influx of people to the beaches is also the time of greatest risk of contamination. The people and animals that circulate in the seawater and on the sand release chemicals, such as UV filters, and waste that contribute to the proliferation of microorganisms. The Biosfera program spoke to ICBAS lecturers and researchers Adriano Bordalo e Sá, Paulo Martins da Costa, and Inês Rodrigues to learn more about the precautions bathers should take this summer.
The aim was to "make children aware that what we understand as health also includes the health of animals, plants, and the environment". To this end, the One Health Office of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) at the University of Porto launched the challenge with EB1 do Marco, from the António Sérgio School Group in Vila Nova de Gaia, and EB1 da Caramila, from the Fontes Pereira de Melo School Group in Porto, and gave birth to One Health in Schools, an initiative which, over the last few months, has publicized the One Health concept to primary school children.
The initiative initially included visits to schools to enlighten the little ones about the definition and applicability of the One Health approach. In a second phase, which took place on 21 and 26 June, the schools were received at ICBAS to present their vision of the issue.
Text adapted from UP News. Read the full story here.
This video shows the visit to ICBAS by 2nd year students from Escola Básica do Marco (Agrupamento António Sérgio, Vila Nova de Gaia) and 3rd year students from Escola Básica da Caramila (Agrupamento Fontes Pereira de Melo, Porto), in June 2024. During this visit, the students responded to a thematic challenge launched by the One Health Office, on the topics of 'Pets' (Escola Básica do Marco) and 'Access to water' (Escola Básica da Caramila).
On June 13, more than 80 students from all the PhD programs of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), covering the areas of Human Health, Animal Health, and Environmental Health, took part in the One Health PhD Forum, organized by the ICBAS Office for One Health.
The aim of this meeting was to encourage scientific sharing, promote potential partnerships, publicise the transdisciplinary nature of the One Health concept, and challenge students to integrate the approach into their research.
The programme included two invited Keynotes , four oral presentation sessions involving 18 students, an 18-poster presentation session and the dissemination of 24 virtual posters. The best presentations were awarded scholarships to attend a scientific congress, one for the best oral presentation (Mariana Oliveira - 4th year student of the Doctoral Programme in Aquatic Environmental Sciences, Biology and Ecology) and another for the best poster presentation (Carla Sousa - 1st year student of the Doctoral Programme in Animal Science). An honourable mention was also awarded for the best virtual poster (Vera Constâncio - 4th year student of the Biomedical Sciences Doctoral Programme).
Most participants identified with the concept and shared the same opinion - initiatives like this are fundamental for sharing knowledge and contacting colleagues from different areas. An event to repeat!
Raquel Duarte, Professor at ICBAS and Director of INSA-Porto, was responsible for one of the Keynotes.
“Transdisciplinary conversations, where knowledge and scientific areas as different as architecture and psychology, medicine and biology or engineering and veterinary medicine intersect” was the motto for the first series of One Health talks, organized by the One Health Office of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) of the University of Porto.
The One Health talks began in October 2023, based on the interest in deepening the concept among the ICBAS community: “In conversation with workers, we realized that there was some need to clarify the applicability of the concept, and this led us to think of a proximity proposal, which would communicate the importance of the One Health approach,” explainsAdriano Bordalo e Sá, coordinator of the ICBAS One Health Office.
Making children, teenagers, and young people aware that what we understand as Health also includes the health of animals, plants and the environment is the focus of the initiative "One Health in Schools". In April and May, the concept was presented in a simple and participatory way in two primary schools in the Greater Porto region. Two different challenges, chosen by each of them, were also launched, accompanied by a practical activity alluding to the topic."
The Escola do Marco, from Agrupamento de Escolas António Sérgio in Vila Nova de Gaia, chose the topic 'Pets - benefits and care'. The students were visited by Lola the dog and heard from her guardian, the veterinarian Luísa Guardão from ICBAS, about the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship with our animals. The Escola da Caramila, from Agrupamento Fontes Pereira de Melo in Porto, chose to work on the theme 'Water, a good for everyone? After an initial talk, and thanks to the participation of marine biologist Lúcia Gomes from the ICBAS Hydrobiology laboratory, they learned how to manually make a homemade filter from recycled materials to purify water and to identify various characteristics of this precious liquid.
But the activities won't stop there. In June, these children will come to ICBAS to present the solutions to the challenges. Families will also be able to watch and learn from the research carried out by the little ones at home.
From September, the 'One Health in Schools' will reach other levels of education, with a similar format, but adapted to the motivations and expectations of each stage.
At Escola do Marco, the dog Lola was the protagonist of the activity 'Pets - benefits and care'. Image credits: Sofia A. Costa Lima.The importance of access to drinking water was reinforced with the construction of a 'homemade' filter at the Escola da Caramila. Image credits: Sofia A. Costa Lima.
The Biosfera TV program (RTP) was at ICBAS and wanted to know how we can promote family health with companion animals, prevent the transmission of diseases, and guarantee the well-being of our animals. Paulo Martins da Costa, Liliana Martins, Inês Rodrigues, Maria Leonor Lemos, and Jorge Ribeiro, are highlighted, in an edition dedicated to our four-legged companions.
The One Health Master results from the combination of knowledge from the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) and the Faculty of Economics (FEP) of the University of Porto and aims to be part of the answer to a sustainable future for the planet, through a curricular program that crosses Life and Social sciences. The new master’s degree will be part of the University of Porto’s training offer from the 2024/2025 academic year onwards.
Designed to prepare human resources capable of approaching environmental, human, and animal health problems in a multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary way, this new course aims to provide tools for a more comprehensive understanding of these problems, as a path to lasting solutions.
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