Understanding and Improving Human, Animal, and Environmental Health As a Connected System across NOAA: Connecting Observation, Prediction, and Decision-Makers

The One Health concept recognizes that the health of humans is inextricably linked with the health of animals and the environment. With a growing world population, changing climate, and increased global travel One Health approaches are increasingly useful. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides key stakeholders in the public health sector with the environmental intelligence they need to mitigate emerging health threats. The NOAA One Health Working Group’s mission is to integrate and coordinate observation, detection, prediction, and sustained engagement with health partners. The NOAA One Health group divides its broad focus into themes: thermal extremes, water-borne disease, seafood security, Arctic, wildlife and zoonotic disease, vector-borne disease, and air quality (including wildfire). The group connects the work being done throughout NOAA to coordinate One Health related efforts, increase information sharing, promote interdisciplinary approaches, and work towards better disease prevention.

This talk will presents what NOAA brings to the health community across timescales of prediction, prevention, and response. Some of NOAA’s health work includes the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS). NIHHIS helps decision makers plan and prepare to extreme heat events- days, months, and years in advance. Through a NIHHIS interagency group and non-federal partners NIHHIS helps coordinate and communication heat health information to decision makers and the public. It is difficult to truly change decision-making processes, change behavior, and evaluate effectiveness of the connection between climate and health information and decision makers. Through partnerships like NIHHIS and other NOAA and external partners we can begin to understand where the connection needs the more work and help inform decision making.