Given that more than half of the infectious diseases affecting people originate in animals, the next public health emergency may not begin in a hospital or clinic but at a farm or in a flooded community.
Across Pacific island countries and areas, climate-sensitive diseases further intensify these challenges. Leptospirosis, for example, often rises after heavy rainfall and floods, while food and water safety remain a major concern with unsafe food linked to more than 200 diseases worldwide, many of them present in the Pacific.
While these risks are already well known, findings using the tools under the International Health Regulations (IHR) clearly show that preventing and controlling diseases transmitted from animals to humans remains an urgent priority. The IHR – which came into effect in 2005 and were recently amended to strengthen them further – are a legally binding framework adopted by 196 WHO States Parties, including Pacific island countries, to prevent, detect and respond to public health threats with the potential of international spread.
The need for urgent action was discussed at a recent meeting of Pacific islands from 3 to 5 February, where, for the first time, more than 70 participants came together representing not only national IHR focal points but also the animal health and legal sectors.
During the three-day online meeting, participants shared experiences in strengthening human, animal, and environmental health under the approach known as One Health, bringing these sectors together. Vanuatu presented its flagship One Health Committee, and Fiji, French Polynesia, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands highlighted progress and challenges.
“In the Pacific, health risks are shaped by climate change, environmental pressures and close interactions between people, animals and ecosystems. This means that to better protect communities, public health, animal health and environment professionals need to work closely together,” said Dr Mark Jacobs, WHO Representative to the South Pacific and the Director of Pacific Technical Support.
“By strengthening coordination across health, agriculture, environment, biosecurity and other relevant sectors, countries are better able to identify risks early and respond effectively – often before those risks escalate into emergencies.”
WHO, together with partners – Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) – continues to support countries through Pacific One Health dialogues aligning human, animal and environment health systems, with the first National Bridging Workshop in the Pacific organized by Tonga in September 2025.
Looking beyond One Health
Since the last meeting of IHR focal points in 2024, Pacific islands have made tangible progress in strengthening IHR core capacities. Since then, the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have completed Joint External Evaluations (JEE) with a common recommendation being to establish multi-sectoral coordination mechanisms.
The Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu have also developed National Action Plans for Health Security, which are detailed country-owned roadmaps to strengthen ability to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats.
For Solomon Islands, the JEE process was a critical milestone in identifying strengths and priority gaps across preparedness, surveillance and response. “The Joint External Evaluation gave us a clear and honest picture of where we are and where we need to focus next,” said Dr Nemia Bainivalu, Medical Director at Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Solomon Islands.
“It was not just an assessment, but a valuable learning process that is already helping us strengthen coordination and prioritize action across sectors. I am glad that we were able to share our practical experience with other Pacific countries which might face similar challenges.”
In addition, meeting participants also discussed how to operationalize the amendments to the IHR at national level, in line with the resolution endorsed at the seventy-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in October 2025.
For many, the IHR amendments reinforced the need to embed multi-sectoral coordination beyond health into preparedness efforts, making sure that health, agriculture, environment, biosecurity and legal sectors work together well before emergencies occur.