By Bunmi Yekini
Global leaders on Tuesday launched a series of new initiatives aimed at preventing future health crises, as the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners pushed to turn the “One Health” approach into concrete global action.
The announcements came during a landmark One Health Summit held to mark World Health Day 2026, bringing together heads of state, scientists and policymakers to address the growing links between human, animal and environmental health.
Hosted by France, the summit underscored the urgency of tackling interconnected risks such as climate change, biodiversity loss and infectious diseases, many of which originate in animals. Around 60% of known human infectious diseases are zoonotic, while nearly three-quarters of emerging diseases jump from animals to humans, WHO said.
“The health of people, animals and the environment we share are inextricably interwoven,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, urging countries to break down silos and collaborate more closely to prevent and respond to threats.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which caused an estimated 15 million deaths globally and triggered massive economic losses, highlighted the cost of failing to detect and contain such risks early, officials said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would push to move One Health “from ambition to implementation,” stressing that science and international cooperation must guide global responses.
New measures announced
WHO and its partners outlined four major actions to strengthen prevention and preparedness worldwide.
These include plans for a new global network of One Health institutions to improve coordination and deliver practical support to countries, as well as an expanded mandate for a high-level expert panel to guide research and policy through 2029.
A renewed push to eliminate rabies by 2030, a disease that still kills about 60,000 people annually, was also unveiled, alongside a new strategy to better coordinate global responses to avian influenza threats.
WHO said it would also assume a stronger leadership role within the Quadripartite partnership, which includes international organizations working across health, agriculture and environmental sectors, to drive more measurable impact at country level.
Call for sustained cooperation
Alongside the summit, WHO opened a global forum bringing together more than 800 collaborating research institutions from over 80 countries, aimed at accelerating scientific innovation and data sharing.
Officials said the twin gatherings send a clear signal that stronger multilateral cooperation and sustained investment in science are essential to address increasingly complex global health challenges.
“Tackling today’s risks demands coordinated action across sectors and borders,” WHO said, calling on governments and partners to translate commitments into tangible progress on the ground.