One Health in the City: Why Health Is More Than Hospitals

What comes to your mind when you think of Health? Maybe hospitals, medicines, and doctors. What if I tell you that health is beyond all that?

So, our health depends on different factors such as the air we breathe, the water we drink, the animals around us, and the environment we live in. All these factors play an important role in our individual health more than we realise. Hence, it's high time that we stop considering health as a singular term and try to focus on the connection it holds.

And where can you find these connections visible? Well, it is especially visible in fast-growing cities like Bengaluru. And this is where the One Health approach comes into action.

What Is One Health?

One Health is a way of thinking of health based on this truth:

human health, animal health, and environmental health are deeply connected.

Instead of treating these areas separately, One Health looks at them as one whole system. When one part of the system is affected, the others are affected too. It's that simple!

We have scientific basis too for showing the truth behind the One Health approach. A majority of emerging infectious diseases in humans originate from animals, and many of these are influenced by environmental changes such as urbanisation, habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. In urban settings, where these interactions are intensified, addressing health challenges in isolation is no longer effective.

When humans, animals, and ecosystems interact closely, as they do in cities, the risk of disease being spread increases. This makes One Health important for urban health planning.

Why Urban Health Needs a One Health Approach

Cities are living, complex systems. And what makes it so complex, one may ask. It is because of the large human populations, pets and stray animals, urban wildlife, and built environments like roads, buildings, and drainage systems. All of these influence health in ways we can see and in ways we often can’t.

Human-Animal Interactions in Cities

We all know that people in cities regularly interact with animals, including pets, stray dogs, birds, rodents, and insects like mosquitoes. But these interactions can sometimes lead to the spread of zoonotic diseases such as rabies, dengue, and leptospirosis.

Animal health and urban ecology had to be monitored and understood in order to protect human health in cities.

Environmental Factors That Affect Health

Air pollution, poor water quality, heat stress, and waste management issues are major challenges in urban environments. This increases the risk of respiratory diseases, heart conditions, and heat-related illnesses if present in the long term.

These issues affect both humans and animals as they share a common environment. It could also make the existing health problems worse. Hence, environmental health cannot be separated from public health.

Climate Change and City Health

Climate change, including rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, floods, and heatwaves affect how diseases spread, how water is stored, and how food systems function.

Cities experience these impacts more intensely, which makes climate resilience a health issue, not just an environmental one.

These factors, all together, show that urban health is dependent on various systems, as what One Health stands for.

Turning One Health into Action: The Role of the BeST Cluster

A brief idea on OneHealth alone does not change anything. And when do you think changes actually happen? Well, it does happen when people from different sectors come together and look into the problem.

That’s where the Bengaluru Science and Technology Cluster (BeST) comes in. BeST was set up under the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India with a simple goal: to use science and technology to address real issues the city is facing. BeST brings together researchers, government bodies, healthcare professionals, industry, civil society organisations, and community groups to address complex urban challenges.

Recognising the growing health pressures faced by Bengaluru, BeST has made One Health a core focus area. It allows the city to look at human health, animal health, and the environment together, instead of considering them as separate problems. By this, we can focus on creating long-term solutions.

BeST’s One Health Initiatives in Bengaluru

BeST has played an important role in building up the One Health ecosystem in Bengaluru. One of the major milestones was the launch of Bengaluru City Consortium, which brings together more than 70 stakeholders from various sectors for collaboration and to find solutions to urban health challenges.

BeST worked with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to help set up One Health Cells (Clinical Health Cell, Digital Health Cell, Public Health Cell, Environment Health Cell, and Animal Health Cell) in Bengaluru. The idea was simple: to bring different teams working on human health, animal health, the environment, and digital systems into one shared space. This made it easier for departments to talk to each other and respond to city-level health issues in a more connected way.

Over the years, BeST has been involved in a range of One Health efforts across Bengaluru.

●     Some of this work has focused on dengue, where local ward-level conditions, community practices, and environmental factors were taken into account to support prevention and early action.

●     BeST has also supported citizen science and community-based activities, encouraging residents to play a more active role in disease prevention and in understanding their local environment.

●     Another important area has been capacity building. This includes Field Epidemiology Training with a One Health focus, training programmes for ASHA workers, and practical molecular surveillance workshops for personnel from government laboratories.

●     In addition, BeST has contributed to initiatives around zoonotic disease surveillance, issues related to stray animal health, and awareness around antimicrobial resistance.

Through its One Health initiatives, BeST helps doctors, veterinarians, environmental scientists, data experts, and urban planners collaborate more closely. It supports research that looks at how changes in the environment affect both animal and human health, and helps make sure that work happening at the city level fits in with national priorities like the National One Health Mission. It also promotes decision-making that is based on solid evidence rather than assumptions.

What One Health Means for Urban Communities

For people living in cities, One Health has everyday relevance. When a city follows the One Health approach, it considers environmental protection, starts to treat animal health as part of wellbeing, and sees climate issues as health concerns too.

The One Health approach helps in prevention before the damage is done. By focusing on root causes instead of isolated issues, One Health helps cities stay healthy and more resilient.

The Future of Urban Health

Cities always tend to grow. And so do the problems associated. To address them, scientists, policymakers, and communities need to work together.

Supported by platforms like the BeST Cluster, it offers a practical and progressive approach to urban health. Human health, animal health, and the environment are all connected. One cannot fix one without considering the others.

Urban health cannot be treated in isolation. For creating sustainable cities, one must understand the importance of One Health.