83% of Italians have never heard of the One Health global strategy, but more than 7 out of 10 believe that the well-being of humans, animals, plants and the environment is interdependent. These are the results of a survey released today, on the occasion of the online publication of ‘One Health Project’, a site promoted by the ESG Culture Lab of Eikon Strategic Consulting and Healthware Group with the unconditional support of the Msd Foundation, which aims to involve the public opinion in the transformation of health outlined by One Health, the approach that recognizes the interdependent health of humans, animals, plants and the environment.
The innovative path – explains a joint note – started with a national survey that explored the collective representations of the relationship between humans, animals, plants and the environment. The survey – carried out in March 2023 with the Cawi method – involved a thousand people, a representative sample of the Italian population by gender, age and geographical area. The survey shows that only 17% of those interviewed had heard of One Health before the survey. However, the results reveal a great diffusion of the vision of interconnection between humans, animals, plants and the environment: 75% are strictly dependent. This vision is accompanied by a strong assumption of subjective responsibility: 62% of the interviewees feel personally invested in the commitment to this systemic approach. For 26% it is a political priority and only 11% believe it is a scientific problem.
“We strongly believe in this distinctive path due to the value and topicality of the theme, but above all because it involves People, key players in the change – declares Goffredo Freddi, director of the MSD Foundation – With the One Health Project we want, with a view to public-private partnership, make a tangible contribution to raising awareness on key public health issues, turning the spotlight on the fundamental value of prevention for a better and healthy future and on the power of the direct engagement of the population in the sustainable transformation of the coming years”.
The One Health Project program will continue in April and May 2023 with 3 free webinars with the Italian experts of One Health, which will be open to citizens, universities, patient associations, the media, public and private organizations. The survey, all the information, the calendar and registration for the webinars are available on the dedicated One Health Project website. By completing the online survey, each participant will receive a photograph of their profile in relation to One Health – humanist, animalist, naturalist, astronaut – and an information sheet with indications on how to concretely contribute to One Health through 7 categories: education, animal health domestic, wild, food, choice of treatments, research and community.
Based on the results of the survey – the note highlights – Italy seems to be a very fertile ground for sowing a new systemic and collaborative approach that values One Health as a new vision and strategy for a sustainable future. At the same time it is very important to increase knowledge of the current scientific commitment, strongly underestimated by the sample, which however recognizes in this global strategy an opportunity not to be missed, for an important transformation of values that mitigates the negative impacts of the most destructive components of the human action. For this reason, the interviewees seem willing to commit themselves to specific objectives.
Despite the trust attributed to the One Health approach – the survey still emerges – the coronavirus pandemic has left a mark, reinforcing the negative perception of human action. For 40% of those interviewed, the changed environmental conditions increasingly influence the emergence of new diseases that cannot be sufficiently countered with new treatments. Both animal health and deforestation are of concern. The answers bring out the importance attributed not only to a collective action, but also to everyone’s contribution. Almost all of the sample confirms that they are committed to changing their lifestyle to improve everyone’s health, with 31% who are also willing to make radical changes for the health of plants and the environment.