Korean Society of Epidemiology Launches 'One Health Research Group' to Examine Human and Animal Health Together
Recently, the importance of 'One Health,' which studies the health of humans and animals as interconnected, has been growing. In line with this trend, the Korean Society of Epidemiology announced the official launch of the 'One Health Research Group' at its fall conference held at the Seoul Garden Hotel on September 18.
One Health is the concept that human health is closely linked to the health of animals and the environment. With the recent global spread of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19, there is an increasing call for the integrated management of not only humans but also animals and the environment.
The newly founded One Health Research Group is composed of epidemiology researchers led by President Cheon Byung-chul. They plan to focus on conducting multidisciplinary research for the prevention and response to infectious diseases and establishing scientific evidence to create a healthy society.
The research group held its first session at this conference and has begun its full-scale activities. Many experts are paying close attention to what positive changes the One Health Research Group will bring to South Korea's public health policies and infectious disease response systems in the future.