The Lancet One Health Commission: harnessing our interconnectedness for equitable, sustainable, and healthy socioecological systems

Industrialisation, urbanisation, and globalisation have improved human life expectancy, but they have also generated an array of interlinked threats to humans, animals, plants, and other biotic and abiotic elements in our shared ecosystems. These threats include infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), non-communicable diseases (NCDs), food safety and security, freshwater scarcity, climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. The Lancet One Health Commission, convened in 2019, aims to address these needs and leverage One Health as a crucial approach to achieving equitable, sustainable, and healthy socioecological systems. The commission’s methodology involves convening a diverse, transnational, and interdisciplinary group of experts, conducting an informed synthesis and appraisal of the current state of knowledge and evidence regarding the need for and value of One Health. The commission is guided by a One Health ethos comprising principles of holism and systems thinking, epistemological pluralism, equity and egalitarianism, and stewardship and sustainability. The consensus around One Health, built by the One Health Quadripartite and OHHLEP, is essential for addressing the threats to health posed by infectious diseases, AMR, NCDs, and other biotic and abiotic elements in our shared ecosystem.