RAS question
One Health approach recognizes the interconnection between:
Correct answer: (B) Human health, animal health, and environmental health.
The One Health approach recognises that human health, animal health and environmental health are closely interconnected.
Explanation
One Health is not a narrow public-health slogan; it is a collaborative, multisectoral and transdisciplinary way of handling risks that sit at the human-animal-environment interface. The WHO fact sheet states that the health of humans, animals and ecosystems is closely interlinked, and that One Health integrates these fields instead of treating them separately. That is why option B captures the core idea. This framing is exam-relevant because about 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, so disease prevention and response cannot be limited to hospitals or sanitation departments. WHO, FAO, WOAH and UNEP jointly promote this approach through the One Health Quadripartite partnership.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Education may affect health outcomes, but One Health is centred on the interdependence of human, animal and environmental health, not on education-health linkage.
- (C) Only human health and sanitation is too narrow because One Health specifically adds animal health and environmental or ecosystem health to the frame.
- (D) Economics can be affected by outbreaks, but it is not one of the core health domains recognised in the One Health definition.
Concept
This tests the Science and Technology/Public Health concept of zoonotic disease control through an integrated health framework. It recurs in RAS because epidemic preparedness questions often turn on whether a candidate understands inter-sectoral coordination, not just medical treatment.