CGIAR Initiative: Protecting Human Health Through a One Health Approach <p class="ql-align-justify">COVID-19 is the sixth zoonotic pandemic since 1980. The frequency and severity of these events is increasing as people encroach on wildlife habitats and livestock and fish production systems intensify.<span style="background-color: inherit;">i</span>&nbsp;Animal production systems are reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens,&nbsp;and&nbsp;60% of human communicable diseases&nbsp;originate&nbsp;from pathogens&nbsp;with zoonotic origin.<span style="background-color: inherit;">ii</span>&nbsp;Trade of animals and animal-source foods at increasing scales multiplies the magnitude of health and economic risks.<span style="background-color: inherit;">iii</span>&nbsp;Limited available evidence shows that returns&nbsp;on&nbsp;zoonoses&nbsp;control interventions are high, and that integrating public health and veterinary services increases cost-effectiveness.<span style="background-color: inherit;">iv</span>&nbsp;However, under-funding and separation of these functions remains the norm. Collaborative intervention studies with government agencies are needed to&nbsp;show proof of concept and&nbsp;build the evidence base for increased investment by national and international partners.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">Antimicrobials&nbsp;are&nbsp;widely used&nbsp;in humans&nbsp;and&nbsp;in&nbsp;agriculture.&nbsp;While&nbsp;estimates of&nbsp;the volume of antimicrobial use (AMU)<span style="background-color: inherit;">1</span>&nbsp;in agriculture&nbsp;vary widely due to&nbsp;limited&nbsp;data&nbsp;availability,&nbsp;two thirds of the global use of&nbsp;antimicrobials is in livestock production,<span style="background-color: inherit;">v</span>&nbsp;which is expected to increase primarily in developing countries due to&nbsp;intensifying&nbsp;production.<span style="background-color: inherit;">vi</span>&nbsp;Since&nbsp;AMU is a major driver of antimicrobial resistance&nbsp;(AMR)&nbsp;emergence and spread,<span style="background-color: inherit;">vii</span>&nbsp;efforts to reduce use is&nbsp;a&nbsp;key action area&nbsp;to reduce the&nbsp;pressure&nbsp;on selection of AMR.<span style="background-color: inherit;">viii</span>&nbsp;AMR causes 700,000 deaths annually and is projected to kill 10 million each year by 2050.<span style="background-color: inherit;">ix</span>&nbsp;Addressing AMU&nbsp;in food systems is hampered by lack of evidence on&nbsp;scale of use, impact&nbsp;on&nbsp;reducing&nbsp;AMR infections&nbsp;in&nbsp;humans, and&nbsp;perceived&nbsp;negative impacts on&nbsp;productivity.&nbsp;Research&nbsp;to fill in these gaps and clarify trade-offs&nbsp;has the potential to&nbsp;catalyze decisive action&nbsp;at the national and global level address AMR.&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">Livestock generate 85% of global animal fecal waste, leading to environmental degradation and human exposure to&nbsp;antimicrobial residues and&nbsp;waterborne pathogens,<span style="background-color: inherit;">x</span>&nbsp;a key route through which these hazards enter&nbsp;food systems.<span style="background-color: inherit;">xi</span>&nbsp;Foodborne disease takes a toll&nbsp;– primarily in LIMICs –&nbsp;comparable to&nbsp;each&nbsp;of&nbsp;tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS,<span style="background-color: inherit;">xii</span>&nbsp;but receives a small fraction of the&nbsp;investment&nbsp;from international donors.<span style="background-color: inherit;">xiii</span>&nbsp;Informal markets, which supply&nbsp;the majority of&nbsp;high-risk animal source foods (ASF) and other perishables in&nbsp;low- and middle-income countries (LMICs),&nbsp;remain outside of the reach of traditional regulatory&nbsp;systems. Research to develop and test&nbsp;voluntary approaches&nbsp;through which food business&nbsp;operators can&nbsp;access public resources&nbsp;for food safety upgrading and quality assurance,&nbsp;paired with social marketing to create consumer demand,&nbsp;is needed to&nbsp;refine&nbsp;and scale&nbsp;a non-punitive, stepwise path&nbsp;to&nbsp;safer food in these settings.&nbsp;Assessment of&nbsp;the&nbsp;costs and benefits of supplying&nbsp;safe water&nbsp;to&nbsp;markets and abattoirs,&nbsp;is needed to evaluate the&nbsp;case for&nbsp;public&nbsp;investment in&nbsp;infrastructure&nbsp;at these critical control points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">International investment in One Health within food systems is growing, including through a new World Bank Multi-Donor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/11/03/new-funding-to-improve-food-systems-will-help-prevent-zoonotic-diseases" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">Trust Fund</a>, which&nbsp;will complement individual investments by&nbsp;ADB, BMGF,&nbsp;BMZ,&nbsp;FCDO/DFID, IDRC, Rockefeller Foundation (<a href="https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/pandemicpreventioninstitute/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">Pandemic Prevention Institute</a>)&nbsp;and&nbsp;USAID (<a href="https://www.usaid.gov/ept2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">EPT</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/find-a-funding-opportunity/next-generation-global-health-supply-chain" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">NEXT-GEN</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usaid.gov/business-forecast/search/award/94fc8d0be7?search=&amp;location=Washington&amp;ouid=All" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">DEEP VZN</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/apr-1-2021-usaid-engages-private-sector-global-health-security-efforts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);">TRANSFORM</a>)&nbsp;among&nbsp;others.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p>