60 percent of human diseases zoonosisthat is, their origins come from domestic or wild animals and in fact, three out of five new diseases that emerge in the world every year are of animal origin, as revealed by professor in Animal Health at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of CEU Cardenal Herrera, Santiago Vega.
This was expressed within the framework of the ‘MSD Dialogues Journalist Seminar Exploring for Life: One World, One Health’ organized by MSD and One Health Platform in Spain, after which it was detailed that 75 percent of emerging infectious human diseases are resistant to antibiotics. is of animal origin.
So during the meeting The importance of the ‘One Health’ tool, i.e. the connection between human, animal and environmental health, Finding solutions to public health problems.
An example of this interrelationship is: Viruses, which make up 44 percent of the infectious agents that cause diseases, increase their proliferation capacity. due to increasing temperatures. “In addition, disease-transmitting vectors such as mosquitoes spend more time with us,” Vega said, adding that there are regions where the population is exposed to these vectors for twelve months instead of the usual four months. . Thus, a suitable environment is created for species leaps to occur, as was the case with Covid-19 before.
ECODES Climate Action Director Pablo Barrenechea stated the following: The need to accelerate the fight against climate change in the healthcare system, It helps you reduce your carbon footprint and reduce your impact on the climate. “If the healthcare sector were a country, it would be fifth in the world in emissions,” he warned. Vega also spoke in this sense, noting that aerosols emit 450,000 tons of CO2 per year, but complained that “substitute drugs are not prescribed or patients are reluctant to use them.”
Raquel Sánchez, advisor to the Spanish Patient Forum, emphasized that the concept of “One Health” remains a “big unknown” because citizens “fail to understand the terminology in which the subject is discussed.” “The patient is a citizen of the street and you have to talk to him in his language,” he claimed.
Vaccination and combating antimicrobial resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered one of the greatest threats to global health. and hence it is one of the comprehensive ‘One Health’ strategies. According to a study published in 2022 in the journal ‘The Lancet’, 1.27 million people in the world died from such infections in 2019, and if urgent measures are not taken, predictions for 2050 predict a cost of 10 million dollars to human health. their lives.
As stated in the meeting, Vaccines are one of the most basic measures to protect against this problem. Because they reduce the use of antibiotics. This is explained by Jaime Pérez, president of the Spanish Vaccinology Association, who describes vaccines as “one of the most fundamental pillars” of the ‘One Health’ approach.
“They have three possible uses: They prevent infections, and flu vaccines, for example, manage to reduce antibiotic use by up to 40 percent; in addition, there are vaccines such as pneumococcal conjugate that manage to stop resistance. We are reducing more than 80 percent of antibiotic-resistant pneumococcal strains in the United States.” ” he explained. However, in his opinion; There is still a “significant disconnect” between the vaccine world and antimicrobial resistance.
Rafael Cantón, clinical coordinator of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST), reminded the economic impact of antibiotic resistance. “A patient admitted with a multi-resistant bacterium stays in the hospital longer, so we will pay more for the hospital stay. The probability of dying due to the adverse effect of a multi-resistant bacterium is higher than with a sensitive bacterium. The expert says on average 2, “3 times more,” he said. Actually reminded me of this 30,000 deaths in Spain are thought to be caused by a multi-resistant bacteria.
Bruno González-Zorn, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid and director of the Antimicrobial Resistance Unit, assured that “‘One Health’ is essential in the fight against the silent epidemic of antibiotic resistance.” But he regretted it Since 95 percent of Spaniards have antibiotics at home, the public is “not aware of this problem at all.” “People associate antibiotics with having NSAIDs. We must speak out against this problem,” he insisted, and then called for “more resources” to promote research.
“We are entering a post-antibiotic era that seriously threatens modern medicine.”. We have been working for many years, but now we have started to build bridges. “We now need to collaborate and involve other professionals, such as nurses, because the fight against antibiotics is profitable and shortens waiting lists,” he concluded.