At the Cabinet's weekly meeting on Thursday, Premier Cho Jung-tai was briefed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the formulation of a national One Health joint action plan. The premier said that, in the post-COVID-19 era, where we are confronted with complex challenges related to the health of humans, animals and ecosystems, it is necessary to establish a national One Health policy task force. The task force will oversee a government-led joint action plan aimed at developing integrated response strategies, guided by the One Health concept and approach.
Premier Cho directed the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of the Interior to collaborate in accelerating the formulation of the national action plan, and to refer to the six action tracks laid out in the One Health Joint Plan of Action previously developed by four international agencies (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Health Organization, World Organisation for Animal Health and United Nations Environment Programme). He instructed the ministries to complete a practical inventory of resources, establish joint work projects and priorities, and devise specific cross-ministry implementation strategies, with the goals of upgrading Taiwan's ability to monitor and identify health threats, strengthening international connections, reducing public health risks and promoting the country's sustainable development.