In January 2018, within EU Research and Innovation Programme Horizon 2020, the One Health European Joint Programme (OHEJP) was launched, a unique European network of 43 public institutions and the MVNA, spanning 22 European countries, with involvement by nearly 1600 scientists in the domains of foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and emerging threats.
The legacy of One Health EJP is clear: having collectively generated scientific results in the field of surveillance, laboratory methods, risk assessment and risk management related to food safety and practical outcomes that can be taken up by stakeholders and other interested parties. The OHEJP created a credible impact via research and educational activities, engaging stakeholders and students alike, addressing the ambitions set out by the Horizon 2020 fund.
With a growing awareness that human health is tightly connected to the health of animals and the environment, the OHEJP is a prime example of a successful Med-Vet collaborative initiative. Historically, disease control has been hampered by divisions between medical and veterinary sciences: this European Joint Programme has made considerable inroads into breaking down these silos, building on commonalities, and encouraging transdisciplinary and sustainable collaboration between different health actors, thus strengthening the One Health approach.
The research activities - 24 Joint Research Projects, 6 Joint Integrative Projects, a simulation exercise and 17 PhD projects, short term missions, continuing professional development modules, Summer Schools, webinars and workshops - were proposed by partners in the participating member states to address key concerns with a One Health view. These activities have created numerous, tangible outcomes for exploitation by stakeholders, and, by enabling open access to the considerable knowledge base, surveillance data, and delivered tools, we envisage the uptake by the wider scientific audience and policy makers too.
The OHEJP is a ground-breaking foundation project leading the way for activities and outcomes related to food safety to be continued to be built upon for the sustainability and legacy of our work. This is an important asset for society as a whole, with the potential to make a substantial difference to the quality of life for citizens across Europe and beyond with our outcomes adding to the preparedness of countries for future threats.
With a five-year programme come opportunities and challenges. One big challenge was to disseminate the outcomes in the given timeframe and to fully measure these results. Communication and effective dissemination have been a strong thread throughout the programme and underpinned the OHEJP purpose. With an interpersonal approach of networking and getting to know each other - embracing technology to overcome the challenges of a global pandemic, communicating using a common language, we have created common understanding and built trust. This commonality has enabled a combined effort to highlight our work and, in turn, created a global presence to spread the message about the One Health approach to benefit the health of people, animals, and the environment.
One of the main aims was to continue to bring people together – researchers and policy makers alike – to further strengthen and grow the network initiated by the Med-Vet-Net Network of Excellence, with cross-sector activities linked to the process of prevent-detect-respond, or ‘preparedness’. We have addressed common challenges where a combined approach has increased efficiencies and reduced overlaps of research, therefore boosting impacts. Dialogue has also been actively encouraged by our Science to Policy team between scientists, key European agencies and international policy makers.
Complementing the scientific research has been an extensive education and training programme, leveraging the expertise held within the Consortium, and providing PhD students and early career researchers with access to networking and learning from experts within their fields, enhancing the quality and skills of those involved. We see investing in education and training is fundamental to broadening the future of the One Health scope, increasing the diversity of scientific research.
The OHEJP scope has focused on addressing the domains of foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance, and emerging threats, as identified in the initial Strategic Research Agenda published in 2018. However, we also recognise environmental health, social sciences, and humanities have a big part to play in the One Health principle and should be included in future collaborations to embrace and build upon a true One Health vision. To this end, an updated Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) was published in 2022.
One of the OHEJP legacies is how we have demonstrated that collaborations between the medical, veterinary, and environmental professions can work. This is needed to tackle emerging cross-sector issues, ultimately improving food security and human, animal and environmental health.
We guide others towards continued initiatives using a One Health approach and encourage further uptake of the instruments and opportunities arising from our outcomes; the MVNA has taken up a key role in sustaining many of the activities and outcomes, including the One Health EJP website.
All those involved in the One Health EJP during its five years should feel extremely proud of the important scientific results achieved, the generated global reach of the One Health message, the knowledge that has been imbibed to future One Health researchers, and the foundations created for future cross-sector collaborations.