IVSA Paklihawa – YPARD Nepal: One Health Webinar Series

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the One Health concept is defined as a collaborative, multisectoral, and interdisciplinary approach at the local, regional, national, and global levels to working towards the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes, recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.

This concept is the key to a safe and sustained future for all beings. For achieving the target, a global collaborative effort is a must. The One Health concept is gaining more recognition in the public health and animal health sectors. This concept initiated as the scientists showed the requirements of considering the health of every living species as a vital aspect for better human health. And eventually, with many efforts, the One Health Day was initiated to mark a date for remembering the importance of One Health on 3rd November every year globally.

The One Health webinar series was jointly organized by the International Veterinary Students’ Association (IVSA) Paklihawa and YPARD Nepal to celebrate the One Health Day 2020. The One Health Webinar Series took place from 2nd to 4th of November 2020 and six different national and international speakers all over the world were invited, who contributed as keynote speakers. This joint effort of IVSA Paklihawa and YPARD Nepal tried to cover all the aspects of One Health i.e., human health, animal health, plant health and the environmental health they share. The keynote speakers presented their insights on various fields of their expertise.

The objectives of the online event were to spread awareness about the One Health Concept, to provide the basic knowledge and necessities of One Health, to interconnect multisectoral disciplines related to One Health and to know the status, and local and global efforts to achieve the One Health concept. The “One Health Webinar Series” was conducted virtually using the StreamYard platform and was broadcasted live on Facebook and YouTube of IVSA Paklihawa and Facebook of YPARD Nepal.

The first day of the “One Health Webinar Series” was started with a welcome speech by Ms. Usha Khatri, SCOH coordinator, IVSA Paklihawa and the session was moderated by Ms. Kamana Kafle, Himalayan College of Agriculture Science and Technology (HICAST). On this very first day of “One Health Webinar Series”,  Dr. Rakesh Chand, Director at Center for One Health Research and Promotion (COHRP), Nepal and Mr. Abhishek Khadka, YPARD Nepal Country Representative, served as our guest speakers. Dr. Chand presented on the topic “Overview of One Health Concept in Nepal: Insect Trade and Their Role in Global Health”. And Mr. Khadka presented his presentation on “Climate Change and its Nexus with Food and Nutrition Security.” The session runtime was two hours including Questions and Answer (Q&A) sections from the audience.

Similarly, the second day of the event was with an introduction about IVSA Paklihawa by Mr. Ashwini Kumar Jha, Exchange officer, IVSA Paklihawa which was hosted by Mr. Prakash Rawal, Secretary, IVSA Paklihawa. Mr. Jha enlighted the contributions IVSA Paklihawa has done in the advancement of animal health locally and globally. The two started guest speakers: Mr. Ahmed Magdy Elsayed Abdo, Standing Committee on Public Health (Members’ Engagement Development Assistant (SCOPH ME DA) and Mr. Manoj Bashyal, freelance nutritionist presented on the topic “Public Health Safety Standards and Outbreak Investigation” and on “Nutrition And Improved Health; Towards Global Food Security,” respectively

The final day was started with an introduction about YPARD Nepal by Mr. Abhishek Khadka and the session was moderated by Ms. Pema Sherpa, Standing Committee chair, IVSA Paklihawa. Mr. Khadka explained about the YPARD and YPARD Nepal and all their remarkable works done so far. On this day, Dr. Inga McDermott, Clinical Director, the One Health Foundation, gave her insights on the concerns of Canine Distemper virus and Dr. Sujit Shah, Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), illustrated the interrelationship between diet, health and exercise. 

The final session of “One Health Webinar Series” was formally concluded by announcing the top 3 winners of the “Online Storytelling Competition”- a story writing competition which aimed to raise awareness about the welfare of animals in the festivals and promote the promotion of animal health. All the sessions each day were about two hours long with the engagement of more than 100 people connected in either of the platforms viz. Facebook or YouTube. 

The IVSA Paklihawa would like to thank YPARD Nepal for their support and look forward to future collaboration. We would like to convey our warmest regards to all the speakers organizing committee, participants and all the well-wishers. We would like to acknowledge Mr. Abhishek Khadka and Ms. Suvha Shree Sharma, President, IVSA Paklihawa for being highly supportive throughout from planning to the execution of the One Health Webinar Series 2020.

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