When we think about disease outbreaks, we often imagine doctors in hospitals or scientists in laboratories. But what if the most effective solutions lie in the spaces between disciplines – where environmental scientists work alongside veterinarians, where public health officials collaborate with water engineers, and where climate data informs clinical practice?
This is the promise of One Health: a recognition that human health, animal health, and environmental health are deeply interconnected. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the challenge of water-related diseases.
The Hidden Connections
Consider cholera. While we understand it as a bacterial infection requiring medical treatment, its emergence and spread depend on a complex web of factors: water infrastructure, sanitation systems, climate patterns that affect flooding, and even agricultural practices that influence water quality. Tackling cholera effectively means addressing all these factors simultaneously – not in isolation.
The same principle applies to antimicrobial resistance spreading through water systems, hepatitis E transmission, and the increasing threats posed by climate-driven flooding. These aren’t just medical problems or environmental problems – they’re both, and they require integrated solutions.
A Different Kind of Workshop
That’s why an upcoming workshop on “Water, Health, and the Environment: A One Health Approach to Tackling Disease” takes such a refreshingly practical approach. Rather than dwelling on lengthy lectures, the session emphasizes collaboration, discussion, and hands-on problem-solving.
Participants will work in small, mixed groups, intentionally bringing together people from different professional backgrounds, to tackle real-world scenarios. They’ll interpret data, map risks, and explore interventions that span multiple sectors. The goal isn’t just to understand One Health conceptually, but to practice it in action.
What You’ll Take Away
The workshop has been designed for professionals working across clinical practice, public health, environmental management, and government. Whether you’re a doctor seeing patients affected by waterborne illness, a policy maker designing health systems, an environmental scientist monitoring water quality, or a postgraduate student exploring these connections, the session aims to provide practical insights including:
- Understanding how water access, quality, and infrastructure directly shape which diseases emerge and spread
- Exploring the real-world challenges of controlling waterborne diseases within existing health systems
- Examining how environmental degradation and animal health issues create ripple effects for human populations
- Learning how cross-sector collaboration can strengthen outbreak preparedness and response
- Engaging with practical tools and frameworks that support integrated decision-making
Why This Matters Now
Access to safe water remains one of the most powerful determinants of health globally. Yet water-related health risks are becoming more complex, not less. Climate change is intensifying flood risks, antimicrobial resistance is spreading through water systems, and aging infrastructure in many regions threatens water quality.
Technical solutions alone won’t suffice. We need professionals who can think across boundaries, who understand how a decision in one sector creates consequences in another, and who can build the collaborative networks needed to address these interconnected challenges.
A Fresh Perspective
If you’ve been working in your field for years, it’s easy to develop tunnel vision; seeing problems only through the lens of your own discipline. This workshop offers something valuable: a chance to step back and see the bigger picture, to learn from colleagues in different sectors, and to discover practical approaches you can implement in your own work.
The emphasis on practical problem-solving rather than passive learning means you’ll leave with actionable ideas, not just theoretical knowledge. And perhaps just as importantly, you’ll leave with new connections to professionals working on related challenges from different angles.
Moving Forward Together
The One Health approach isn’t about adding more work to already-full plates. It’s about working smarter, recognising that some problems can only be solved through collaboration, and that the most effective interventions often lie at the intersections between disciplines.
Whether you’re dealing with a disease outbreak in your clinic, designing water policy for your region, or researching environmental health risks, the connections between water, disease, and the environment affect your work. Understanding these connections, and learning to work across sectors, be the most practical skill you can develop for the challenges ahead.