Description
A social-ecological systems (SES) approach has been introduced by Elinor Ostrom for strategic analyses of sustainable use of natural resources like rangelands, fishing grounds, livestock or forests. Her concept of “governing the commons” contradicts the so called “tragedy of the commons” that assumes that common pool resources are inevitably overused and irreversibly destroyed. We expand the SES to One Health in Social-Ecological Systems (OHSES) by including humans as a resource system that contributes to the human capital of a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). Ill health leads to a reduction of health and wellbeing benefits through premature death, disability or temporary reduction of work capacity. The OHSES analysis framework uses a game theory to identify Nash equilibria, representing best resources management strategies for all involved actors, while maintaining sustainable ecosystem services. A first example on the elimination model of dog rabies in Africa shows that when compared to human post-exposure vaccination, coordinated mass dog vaccination is the best strategy for all countries, leading to human capital benefits of ten billion USD over a period of 30 years with the possible elimination of the disease. Inaction and all other strategies have lower welfare benefits and could not lead to the elimination of dog rabies. Further case studies relating human and animal health and sustainable natural resource use are proposed. Epistemological assumptions and ethical issues of OHSES approach are discussed in the light of pressing needs to combine human and animal health with the sustainable use of natural resources to address the broader impact of the contemporary threats such as antimicrobial resistance, biodiversity loss and climate change.
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