Over 1,300 Participants from 107 Countries Call for One Health Action and Implementation
From September 4 to 7, 2026, the 9th World One Health Congress (WOHC 2026) was held in Lisbon, Portugal. Under the patronage of UNESCO, more than 1,300 experts from 107 countries gathered to share the latest scientific knowledge and policy developments related to One Health.
The Congress featured approximately 600 scientific poster presentations and more than 80 sessions. Through keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, and other programs, participants discussed global health challenges, including climate change, biodiversity, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), infectious diseases, and biosecurity.
The World One Health Congress is an international scientific congress dedicated to the One Health approach, which recognizes that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected and should be addressed together.
【Joint Statement Issued to Promote One Health in Practice and Drive Concrete Action】
At this Congress, One Health stakeholders from around the world came together to issue the “WOHC 2026 Joint Statement and Call to Action.”
The Joint Statement emphasizes that a One Health approach, grounded in robust scientific evidence, demonstrates that the health of humans, animals, plants, and ecosystems is deeply interconnected and mutually dependent.
As the world faces increasingly complex and interconnected health challenges—including global warming, intensifying extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and the emergence of deadly infectious diseases—the Joint Statement highlights the urgent need to understand these realities and take action from a One Health perspective.
It also emphasizes the importance of strengthening the collective voice of a broad range of stakeholders, including academia, industry, civil society, and policymakers, and accelerating progress toward effective implementation of One Health.
The Joint Statement expresses a commitment to advancing the following actions:
・Broadly sharing the scientific evidence and knowledge presented at the Congress.
・Applying the One Health approach to their own activities.
・Advocating for funding and implementation of effective One Health initiatives.
〈Call to Action for World Leaders and Governments〉
The Joint Statement also reiterates a strong call to governments, intergovernmental organizations, and relevant international forums to take the following actions:
・Achieve the goals agreed upon in international agreements concerning health, sustainability,
and equity.
・Fund One Health research and implement actionable policies based on the One Health approach.
・Formally recognize that an integrated approach to the health of humans, animals, plants,
and ecosystems is essential to global health security, disease prevention, and resilience.
Furthermore, the statement calls for One Health principles to be incorporated into national, regional, and intergovernmental negotiations, rather than allowing One Health to remain merely a symbolic concept.
It advocates translating these principles into concrete, equitable, and inclusive systems, including:
・Concrete, equitable, and inclusive laws and regulations across policy areas related to health,
health security, climate, animals, ecosystems, and the environment.
・Cross-sectoral budgeting.
・Binding commitments.
The Joint Statement issued at this Congress demonstrates the need to move One Health beyond being a guiding principle and toward effective implementation through evidence-based policies, adequate funding, and cross-sectoral collaboration.
【WOAH Director General Emphasizes the Importance of Trust and Collaboration】
Dr. Emmanuel Soubeyran, Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), emphasized that realizing the One Health vision requires building trust, investing in capacity development, sharing knowledge, demonstrating political leadership, and maintaining a sustained commitment to implementation.
The 10th World One Health Congress will be held from October 10 to 13, 2028, in Brisbane, Australia.
