The urgency to adopt the One Health framework for pollution and pandemic management in the Arctic: Svalbard as a case

The policy brief includes recommendations for Arctic and global policy-makers focused on the implementation of the One Health approach, and provides an example of Svalbard as a case study for facilitating a One Health framework.

We urge policy-makers to adopt the One Health approach for pollution management and pandemic preparedness in the Arctic. The One Health framework supports integrated adaptation strategies in the Arctic region that account for interconnected human, animal, and environmental health. The One Health approach considers local and Indigenous perspectives to improve health and well-being in the Arctic. Recommendations for reducing pollution- and pandemic-related risks in Svalbard and in the Arctic:

• Familiarise yourself with the One Health approach – interconnected human, animal and environmental health. Increase communication with national and international bodies across the Arctic.
• Establish, maintain and make public a comprehensive pollutant monitoring system across the Arctic as well as an associated database. Expand efforts to collect accurate data on emissions and the occurrence of Chemicals of Emerging Arctic Concern. Expand efforts to predict the likely release of pollutants from
  secondary sources, particularly from thawing permafrost. 
• Provide resources to improve community health in the Arctic, focusing on zoonoses and infectious diseases transmitted between animals and humans. Support surveillance of emerging threats, the development of epidemiological disease models, and new approaches to integrate health data with climatic, environmental and pollution data.