On August 21, SCDI team members came together for a learning session on the One Health approach and environmental pollution. The session featured Sumitra Ropini Karuthan, a PhD researcher in Public Health, and Professor Sanjay Rampal, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, from the University of Malaya, Malaysia.

Photo: Sumitra Ropini Karuthan, PhD Researcher in Public Health at the University of Malaya (Malaysia), shares with SCDI team members about environmental pollution and the One Health approach.

Photo: SCDI team members participate in the session and discuss observations from their work with communities.

Through our long-standing work with vulnerable communities, we have seen how closely people’s health and well-being are connected to the environments and ecosystems in which they live. As environmental pollution increases and extreme weather events become more frequent, communities already facing health challenges, economic difficulties, and other barriers may experience additional impacts on their health and daily lives.

In this context, SCDI sees learning about and gradually integrating the One Health approach into our programs and activities as an important direction for our work. One Health recognizes the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and the environment, and encourages cross-sectoral approaches that respond to the specific context of each community.

Through the session, SCDI team members gained a deeper understanding of the One Health approach, common forms of environmental pollution, and the different ways pollution can affect different communities. The discussions also helped us further explore the links between environmental factors and the health challenges that communities may face.

These insights will support SCDI in taking environmental factors into greater consideration when designing and implementing our programs. This includes understanding the different factors affecting each community and identifying appropriate ways to reduce potential negative impacts. At the same time, we aim to promote practices that contribute to the health and well-being of people, animals, and the environment in our work with communities.

The session marked a starting point for SCDI to continue exploring relevant ideas and approaches, and to gradually integrate the One Health perspective into our existing programs and activities, as well as our future directions.