GO issued for setting up One Health hub in TN to tackle climate change-induced diseases

CHENNAI: The Health Department has issued government orders to set up a "One Health and Climate Change Hub" to address human, animal, and environmental health challenges in the face of climate change. The initiative is aimed at addressing the impact of climate change.

As part of the programme, a state-of-the-art centre for surveillance of the rising cases of zoonotic diseases and vector-borne diseases is planned. The cases of heat stroke and heat stress also warrant the need for regular monitoring, officials said. The surveillance of respiratory illnesses would also be done as part of it.

The State-wide surveillance system will help to develop early warning mechanisms and formulate responses to mitigate diseases and prevent outbreaks. As part of the initiative, the department plans to promote research and develop innovative solutions, and encourage community participation.

The use of Artificial Intelligence for developing predictive models would also be done to assess future disease trends based on climate scenarios. This would be focussed on tribal populations and people living in coastal areas. Expert opinions would be included to discuss the predictive models, officials confirmed.

With Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) incidence seeing a spike, making it a challenge to treat infections, the One Health committee would work on a framework to discuss measures to combat it. The One Health Committee is to meet next month to discuss the modalities.

The One Health and Climate Change Hub would also develop standard operating procedures, training modules, and community engagement resources for guiding government programmes, spreading awareness and educating the masses. These resources would incorporate the best National and international practices into the One Health programme.