By Navendra Seoraj

MINISTER within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings has lauded the “One Health” approach which is designed to enable and empower professionals from the health, agriculture and environment sectors to play leadership roles in cross-sectoral issues in Caribbean countries.Speaking on Sunday at the opening of the third module of the “One Health” leadership series at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, she said that health, agriculture and the environment reflect a very important three-in-one development indicator to the people and government of Guyana, and all efforts must be made to address issues relating to these interrelated sectors.
Therefore, the “One Health” approach being utilised to address human, animal and environmental health is laudable,” Dr. Cummings noted.

WORLDWI

DE STRATEGY
The minister pointed out that the “One Health” concept is a worldwide strategy for expanding interdisciplinary collaboration, and communication in all aspects of healthcare for humans, animals and the environment.
She noted that “it is also strongly believed by contemporary public healthcare professionals that the synergism achieved as a result of the ‘One Health’ concept will significantly advance healthcare for the 21st century and beyond by accelerating biomedical research discoveries, enhancing public health efficacy, expeditiously expanding the scientific knowledge base, and improving medical education and clinical care.”
When properly implemented, Dr. Cummings believes that this project will help protect and save untold millions of lives in present and future generations.
The minister urged participants to take full advantage of the training opportunities presented by the ‘One Health’ leadership series and contribute to the improvement of the health, environmental and agricultural systems in their respective countries.

EVERYONE’S BUSINESS
Dr. Cummings stressed that the health of a nation is everyone’s business and ensuring that a population is healthy is not a task that a government can carry out alone.
“Therefore, collaboration with communities, donor partners, civil society, technical partners, private sector agents and other stakeholders is critical to the process,” she stated.
The minister gave the assurance that the government, through the Public Health Ministry, is committed to working with all of the relevant partners to improve the health of the nation.