One Health Approach in Ukraine: Current Status and Prospects for Implementation

The One Health approach is based on a systemic understanding of the interrelationship between human, animal, and environmental health. In today's world, characterized by rapid urbanization, globalization, climate change, and emerging zoonoses, the One Health concept has become critical as an interdisciplinary and multisectoral framework for ensuring biosecurity and sustainable development. This paper evaluates the status and prospects for the implementation of the One Health approach in Ukraine, a nation uniquely positioned between establishing a modern public health system and managing the profound disruptions of war. Ukraine achieved a major policy milestone with the Law on the Public Health System (2022), which legally mandated multisectoral cooperation and successfully prioritized key zoonotic threats.  However, this legal progress runs parallel to severe operational setbacks. The ongoing conflict has resulted in widespread infrastructure destruction, loss of specialized workforce, and critically, the accelerated rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and zoonotic diseases. These challenges restrict the immediate functionality of joint outbreak response and high-containment diagnostics. The medium- to long-term development trajectory of One Health in Ukraine is closely linked to regulatory harmonization with the European Union (EU), modernization of surveillance systems, and strengthening of laboratory capacity. The Ukrainian case illustrates the complexity of operationalizing the One Health framework under conditions of crisis while pursuing long-term structural transformation.