PMNCH at the One Sustainable Health Forum For All

The One Sustainable Health Forum took place in Lyon, France from July 5-7, 2023, gathering over 1000 high-level environmental, animal and human health stakeholders. Hosted by the French Development Agency and the One Sustainable Health for All Foundation, the in-person and online sessions aimed to foster collaboration and redefine a global approach to health that encompasses the interconnectedness of these vital health sectors.

As planetary crises driven by human activities, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and conflicts over natural resources, continue to escalate, experts have coined the term "polycrisis" to describe their interconnected nature. The pressing need to address these crises has led to a call for intersectoral and innovative approaches that break down existing silos and enable a holistic perspective on One Sustainable Health For All.

Agnès Soucat, PMNCH Board Member and one of the main organizers of the Forum, highlighted in her opening remarks that the conference served as a building block for rethinking the reconstruction and investment of health systems. She highlighted the focus on strengthening social protection systems that respond to climate and health vulnerability, and investing in prevention, including by increasing investments in young people’s well-being. 

PMNCH played a significant role in the Forum as an official partner, contributing to the work of two international working groups. These groups focused on equitable access to quality health-related services (IWG4) and financing, as well as global levers of change to foster One Sustainable Health (IWG5).

During IWG4, PMNCH Project Officer Giulia Gasparri emphasized the importance of prioritizing women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (WCAH) within the framework of a one sustainable health approach. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the close connections between the environment, animal health and human health, as well as the disproportionate impacts of pandemics across society due to gender and age discrimination. WCAH is particularly affected by climate change, with women accounting for 80% of those displaced by climate change and children under the age of 5 shouldering close to 90% of the burden of diseases attributable to climate change. The intergenerational injustices resulting from the triple planetary crises demand the mainstreaming of WCAH within a one sustainable health approach. There must be a focus on the most vulnerable and their engagement as agents of change, as highlighted in the PMNCH Board paper on Addressing the impacts of climate change on WCAH.

Further, the insights provided by the PMNCH Board paper on Financing intersectoral action for WCAH, presented by Mark Hanson, PMNCH Knowledge and Evidence Working Group Chair, and Sol Cuevas from LSHTM, played a crucial role in shaping the discussions within IWG5 on financing for one sustainable health. Investments in one health, which yield health, as well as environmental and socio-economic co-benefits, should be streamlined in WCAH investments, social protection schemes, funding directed at climate mitigation and adaptation, and existing taxation.

The forum’s discussions yielded several recommendations. The need to translate theory into action and operationalize the one sustainable health for all approach emerged as a central theme. Among the recommendations were calls for:

• Data and evidence - Support interdisciplinary research, ensuring there is robust data and evidence, for one sustainable health
• Governance and policy - Establish horizontal governance mechanisms,  to foster a collaborative and unified one sustainable health approach to break current sectoral silos and influence policymaking
• Education, training and public knowledge – Mainstream one sustainable health in education and training, from the school levels to the universities and professional trainings
• Community engagement, and innovative financing strategies that promote nature and community-based solutions through the direct engagement and empowerment of the most affected communities and frontline workers
• Finance – Rethink current financing approaches, including (i) Eeliminate harmful subsidies and conversely develop new global taxation mechanisms. The involvement of low- and middle-income countries and local stakeholders in financing governance and processes was also emphasized. ; (ii) Devise mechanisms for multisectoral blended financing; (iii) Involve low- and middle-income countries and local stakeholders in financing governance and processes.

As Minister of State of Senegal, Professor Awa Marie Coll Seck stressed, a one sustainable health is for all, but also by all, and therefore requires the engagement of those who are at the frontlines responding to these crises in their communities, especially women and young people. 

The outcomes of the forum will be taken forward at the World Health Summit 2023, COP28 and next year’s edition of the forum in Dakar, Senegal.