1. Reflections on the teaching of infectious diseases based on the One Health concept
CHANG Qiaocheng ; MENG Fancun ; CAO Zicheng ; LIU Weidong ; ZUO Peijun ; LI Liping ; LU Jiahai
China Tropical Medicine 2024;24(1):111-
Infectious disease is a major public health problem threatening human health and social development, and infectious disease teaching is an important part of public health education. However, traditional infectious disease teaching faces challenges such as overly theoretical and fragmented content, overly traditional and monotonous methods, and a narrow and isolated vision, which makes it difficult to adapt to the current complex and changing situation of infectious disease prevention and control. The “One Health” concept emphasizes interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, and cross-regional communication and cooperation to achieve the harmonious unity of health for humans, animals, and the environment, which is significant in preventing and controlling infectious diseases. This paper proposes some ideas for reforming infectious disease teaching based on the One Health concept, which aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of infectious disease teaching by recognizing the close connection between human health, animal health, and environmental health. Specifically, it is suggested to reform the teaching in four aspects: introducing the basic concepts, principles, and practices of One Health, increasing the content of infectious diseases related to One Health, adopting diversified and interactive teaching methods, and establishing cross-disciplinary teaching cooperation. Concrete recommendations are provided for each aspect. This paper argues that reforming infectious disease teaching based on the One Health concept is conducive to cultivating public health talents with global vision, systems thinking, and cross-disciplinary collaboration capabilities, providing robust talent support for coping with emerging, re-emerging, and endemic infectious disease threats.