Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing (FK-KMK), in collaboration with the Faculty of Dentistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, and One Health Coordinator Center (OHCC), organized an online event entitled “2021 Winter Course on Interprofessional Education – One Health: Diseases of Tomorrow” on 25 January – 5 February 2021. More than 150 prospective health professionals attended this event including those from abroad. It focuses on health issues involving humans, animals, and the environment and generally aims to prepare the prospective health professionals’ capability to actively identify health problems from across scientific fields in the community.
In her statement to reporters, Tuesday (26/1), Dean of FKKMK, Prof. Ova Emilia, said this project was expected to increase multicultural collaborations among prospective health professionals and increase national and international contextual exposure. It was also a means for One Health representative, both from local and foreign partner universities, to explain the required competencies prospective health professionals had to fulfill.
She mentioned several partner institutions and universities involved, including Indonesia One Health University Network (INDOHUN), Thailand One Health University Network (THOHUN), Southeast Asia One Health University (SEAOHUN), Universiti Sains Malaysia, University of Sydney, and Central Mindanao University, Philippines.
Event coordinator Dr. Gunadi said the main issue discussed in this winter course was the concept of one health as a cross-sectoral interconnection of health in overcoming the threat of a future pandemic. According to him, with changes in climate and environment, the current damage has resulted in the emergence of communicable and non-communicable diseases. He said most of the recent disease outbreaks were the outcomes of disturbances in public health management, including sanitation and hygiene, immunization, and control of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. “Zoonoses are diseases that are naturally transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa. Zoonoses account for 60 percent of the total identified infectious diseases and 75 percent of novel infectious diseases reported,” he said.
Diseases such as Hendra, Nipah, avian flu, Severe Acquired Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and the one that is currently still spreading globally, COVID-19, are zoonotic diseases that caused enormous economic losses in the last 20 years. According to him, despite the ceaseless emergence of new zoonotic diseases, the use of antimicrobial products in human and animal health must be more selective and efficient. If not, the presence of antimicrobials becomes extremely widespread. Even the residue can be found in hospital and livestock waste, which can then pollute the environment. “The interaction between microbes and antimicrobials in low concentrations can lead to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance,” he said.
If a disease becomes resistant to an antimicrobial group, standard treatment becomes ineffective, even untreatable. Such conditions can increase the severity of a disease, even lead to death. “If this continues, it is estimated that by 2050 there will be an increase in deaths of up to 10 million people caused by antimicrobial-resistant pathogen infection. Through the one health concept, (prospective) health workers, related experts, and the public are invited to understand, anticipate, and prepare pandemic management,” he concluded.
Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/20673-gama-inatek-dan-pssat-ugm-terima-sertifikasi-pui-pt
