PIB TrackerHealth Ministry unveils a draft National Action Plan on Zoonoses built on the 'One Health' approach
On World Zoonoses Day, the Health Ministry held a national consultation on a draft National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Zoonoses — a One Health strategic framework — and launched a Learning Resource Package and e-learning modules covering ten priority zoonotic diseases from Nipah and Rabies to Mpox and Zika.
What happened
- On World Zoonoses Day, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare held a National Multistakeholder Consultation on a draft National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Zoonoses in New Delhi.
- The plan is a 'One Health' strategic framework linking the human-health, animal-health, wildlife and environmental sectors.
- It is to cover governance, surveillance, laboratories, preparedness and response, risk communication, research, monitoring and sustainable financing, and to guide State Action Plans.
- Two resources were launched under the National One Health Programme — a Learning Resource Package on 10 priority zoonotic diseases and a suite of E-Learning Modules.
- The ten priority diseases: Anthrax, Brucellosis, Kyasanur Forest Disease, Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, Nipah, Mpox, Rabies, Leptospirosis, Scrub Typhus and Zika; surveillance is to run through IHIP 2.0 with AI-based early warning.
For Prelims
- Zoonosis: A disease that spreads between animals and humans (e.g. rabies, Nipah); over half of known human infectious diseases are zoonotic.
- One Health: An approach recognising that human, animal and environmental health are interconnected, promoted by the WHO, FAO, WOAH and UNEP quadripartite.
- World Zoonoses Day (6 July): Marks Louis Pasteur's first successful rabies vaccine administration on 6 July 1885.
- Nipah & Kyasanur Forest Disease: Nipah (fruit-bat reservoir; Kerala outbreaks) and KFD or 'monkey fever' (tick-borne; Western Ghats) are notable Indian zoonoses.
- NCDC: The National Centre for Disease Control (Delhi), the nodal body for disease surveillance; IHIP is the Integrated Health Information Platform for real-time surveillance.
- Mpox & Zika: Viral zoonoses of global concern — Mpox (formerly monkeypox) and Zika (Aedes-mosquito-borne) are on the priority list.
For UPSC: Anchor this in the One Health paradigm — pandemic preparedness treated as a human–animal–environment systems problem rather than a purely medical one. Link it to integrated surveillance (IHIP 2.0), NCDC, the WHO/FAO/WOAH/UNEP quadripartite, and India's post-COVID emphasis on early warning; it doubles as environment (wildlife/ecology interface) and GS2 health governance.
What it is NOT: This is a consultation on a <b>draft</b> action plan plus a training-resource launch, not a notified national programme or a disease outbreak. 'One Health' is a coordinating approach across ministries, not a single new institution; the ten diseases are a priority list, not the full universe of zoonoses.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS2.13 · GS3.14 · Linkage L2
Anchor
Pandemic preparedness through One Health — integrating human, animal and environmental health surveillance to prevent and control zoonotic disease.
Substantiation (data)
National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Zoonoses (draft, One Health framework) discussed on World Zoonoses Day; Learning Resource Package + e-modules on 10 priority diseases; IHIP 2.0; NCDC.
Exemplification
Ten priority zoonoses (Nipah, Rabies, Mpox, Zika, Anthrax, KFD, CCHF, Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, Scrub Typhus); integrated surveillance and AI-based early warning as operational tools.
Problematisation
Fragmented human/animal/wildlife health systems, weak inter-ministerial coordination, surveillance and laboratory gaps, and sustainable financing remain the barriers to a working One Health system.
Way-forward
Operationalise multisectoral coordination, expand sentinel surveillance and lab networks, build frontline capacity, and secure long-term financing and State Action Plans.
Position
Government stance: a multisectoral, technology-enabled One Health framework is essential for India's preparedness against emerging zoonotic threats.
Deploys into: Issues relating to development and management of the health sector (GS2.13 — pandemic preparedness, surveillance) · conservation and environmental/ecological interface (GS3.14 — wildlife–human disease spillover) · the One Health approach, NCDC/IHIP 2.0 and post-COVID disease-surveillance reform.
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare · 2026-07-06 · PRID 2281860 · PIB source ↗