A Compendium of One Health Terminologies

The global acceptance of the One Health (OH) approach has surged over the past two decades, leading to a proliferation of OH-related activities. A consequence of this growth is the increase in discipline-specific terminologies emerging in the OH lexicon to become lingua franca. However, some of these terms are used ambiguously, and interpreted broadly, thereby hampering systematic OH coordination. This article elucidates the semantics of eight fundamental terminologies, including 'One Health', 'One Health Systems', 'One Health Framework', 'One Health Core Competency', 'One Health Education/Curriculum', 'One Health Professional/Workforce', 'One Health Study/Research', and 'One Health Governance/Legislation'. The major findings of this study are that while there is a consensus on OH definition and OH framework usage, OH systems remain ambiguous despite frequent mentions. Core competencies and educational models are disparate, thus requiring harmonization, and a putative global OH governance structure is being defined through international organizations.