Today is the first ever One Medicine Day. It is a landmark for everyone committed to better health for humans and animals. We believe One Medicine is the way to achieve more ethical and fair medical progress for all, and to help eventually make animal testing obsolete.
Humans have not evolved in isolation, completely separate from all other species. We share many health issues with animals including obesity related problems, cancer, arthritis, and some infectious diseases.
We believe it is short sighted to prioritise only human health above that of millions of animals the world over; wildlife, farm animals, companion animals. All should be valued and respected. All animals deserve access to appropriate medical treatments.
In our vision of One Medicine, human and veterinary medicine collaborate, sharing knowledge and ideas so that sustainable medical progress can be achieved for all. Both similarities and differences between species can inform research. One Medicine does not suggest that all humans and animals could or should be treated with the same treatments in all circumstances. To dismiss the opportunity to save many lives and achieve greater quality of life for so many on a global scale simply because, for example, dogs cannot eat ‘human’ chocolate, we believe is illogical.
Vets and doctors around the world focus on the needs of their individual patients, treating those suffering from naturally occurring disease every day, yet there is no formal platform to collate the learning from those treatments across species, nor to make widespread use of surplus sample tissue in research, such as that from surgically removed tumours, for the benefit of humans and animals.
For that reason, we will not rest until humans and animals benefit at the same time from medical progress, without the need for experimental animal testing.
If you love and respect all animals and want to see a fairer world for us all, please support One Medicine.
Lives depend on it.