G20 technical workshop on One Health: Challenges and Opportunities concludes at Bengaluru

29th – 31st August 2023, Bengaluru

Under the aegis of the G20 Presidency of India, a G20 Technical workshop on One Health: Challenges and Opportunities organized at Bangalore during 29-31 August 2023 was inaugurated by Km Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. The Minister expressed the need for support mechanisms in the health sector at national and international levels to ensure Human Health while quoting the recent example of victory over the COVID-19 pandemic through worldwide collaborations and the crucial role played by India.

Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary DARE & Director General, (ICAR) and Dr Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries and Animal Science) and Chair, G20 were present.

The workshop had participation from seven G20 countries namely Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UK and USA, and Oman was invited to the Workshop. Apart from the country’s representation, representatives of international organizations FAO, WHO and ILRI also participated in the workshop. The Indian participation included experts from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Health and Family welfare, and Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to GoI. 

The workshop agenda was divided into four technical sessions on emerging areas of one health narrative. The technical sessions had expert deliberations from national and international speakers and interaction with the country representatives. 

All the Technical sessions were chaired by Dr Jena along with Dr. Raghavendra Bhatta, Director, ICAR-NIANP, Bengaluru and the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee and Dr Bikash Mandal, Assistant Director General (IR), ICAR New Delhi. 

The workshop emerged with need of multilateral collaborations from different domains, viz. Human, Animal, Plants and environmental to achieve the One Health objective through the Indian G20 theme of One Family, One Earth and One Future. Foster interdisciplinary collaboration among stakeholders including those involved in aquatic and plant health, medical personnel, environmental scientists and public health professionals, to address the health challenges across multiple sectors.

(Source: National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bengaluru)