Reimagining biosecurity: the ‘one life’ framework for pandemic response in the Caribbean

The common perception of biosecurity has been one predominantly rooted in the medical and biological systematic thinking. A new theoretical multidisciplinary framework approach to biosecurity is advanced called PESTHEEL an acronym for P-political, E-economic, S-social, T-technological, H-health, E-environment, E-ethics and L-legal. With this newly proposed view of biosecurity, defined as the science and practice of safeguarding lives and livelihoods through the reduction of systematic vulnerabilities to biological ecosystems, emerges the ‘One Life’ Approach. The PESTHEEL tool fosters interdisciplinary analysis incorporating social sciences deeper into biosecurity. The existing gaps and opportunities identified attempt to bring stronger synergies among disciplines, yielding better clarity to the problem scope and thus more comprehensive and effective solutions to biosecurity threats. An analysis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Barbados and the Caribbean using PESTHEEL wheel framework is presented displaying the multidisciplinary approach to a central biosecurity and or biorisk issue. The results indicate future research efforts should include a detailed legislative analysis of biosecurity policies and laws, formalisation of a biosecurity framework for the Caribbean, development of a standardised regional biosecurity policy to inform national biosecurity laws, and economic feasibility studies of key levers of opportunities identified. This will aid in developing strategies for strengthening regional biosecurity systems and stimulation of sustainable regional economic growth, thus enhancing the resilience of and securing Caribbean lives and economies.