Mission Rabies - a working example that One Health is relevant to veterinarians

The concept of “One Health”, that human health and animal health are interdependent and closely linked into the health of the ecosystems in which they exist, has been known for more than a century.

During the early 2000s, outbreaks of pandemic zoonotic diseases (HIV/AIDS; SARS; Swine Flu; MERS; Covid-19), saw One Health begin to gain traction internationally. In 2021, the four main global organisations (the “quadripartite”) responsible for human health, animal health and environmental health, i.e. the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH; formally OIE); the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), though their One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) jointly issued an agreed definition of One Health, that up until that point had proven somewhat difficult to pin down.

“One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems. It recognises the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and inter-dependent. The approach mobilises multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development.” (OHHLEP Annual Report 2021; One Health High-Level Expert Panel Annual Report 2021).

The quadripartite subsequently issued their One Heath Joint Plan of Action: 2022-2026 (OH JPA:https://doi.org/10.4060/cc2289en ) in 2022. The OH JPA is built around six interdependent Action Tracks that collectively contribute to achieving sustainable health and food systems, reduced global health threats and improved ecosystem management:

So why does the established and accepted paradigm of One Health remain an elusive concept to the average veterinarian and why, outside of academic debate, public sector think-pieces and the narrow lens of AMR, is it not seen as being particularly relevant to our profession?

It may be that One Health, as a concept, is just too broad and just too hard to think about when it comes to implementation? Or is it simply that there is a lack of tangible working examples of One Heath “in-action”? (“You can't be what you can't see” - Marian Wright Edelman)

The Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) Mission Rabies project (www.missionrabies.com) provides an important operational example of veterinary endeavour in a One Health setting and should be of great interest to any veterinarian concerned about One Health.

Despite decades of progress to improve access to post-exposure prophylaxis for people bitten by rabid dogs, this human-centric strategy does nothing to combat rabies virus circulation in the main reservoir species, free-roaming dogs. Since 2013, Mission Rabies has been working with stakeholders in rabies endemic countries to develop an effective One Health approach to rabies control from the ground-up, making a significant contribution towards WHO’s “Zero by 30” strategy, the global strategic plan to end human deaths from dog-mediated rabies (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241513838). 

Mission Rabies is veterinary led with a clear focus on the core areas of mass dog vaccination, enhanced surveillance, and increasing rabies awareness. Millions of doses of dog rabies vaccine have been administered through Mission Rabies projects globally since 2013 and 7 million doses of Nobivac® Rabies vaccine have been donated by MSD Animal Heath in the last 25 years through the Afya Progamme (https://www.afya.org/ ) to organisations like Mission Rabies. Mission Rabies has also educated over 11 million children about rabies prevention. In addition, the organisation has developed an innovative smartphone app which has transformed the strategic direction of large remote vaccination workforces and generated high-resolution data from which to drive operational research for programme optimisation.

Mission Rabies is a brilliant and inspiring example of veterinarians working in an operational One Health setting; animal health, human health and social science groups collaborate to make significant inroads into this devastating and neglected zoonotic disease. 

Dr Andy Gibson, WVS’s Director of Strategy, has been an international guest speaker on WVS programmes, particularly Mission Rabies, most recently as the opening keynote plenary speaker at the June 2025 Annual New Zealand Veterinary Association Conference in Wellington. Andy’s trip to NZ was sponsored by MSD Animal Health.

VetSalus fully supports Mission Rabies and if any VetSalus veterinarians are interested in finding out more about Mission Rabies projects, including gaining valuable One Health field experience in real-world operational settings, please visit www.missionrabies.com.