Legal elements to operationalise One Health: from principles to practice

Abstract One Health is an approach to managing complex health threats by promoting multisectoral and multidisciplinary collaboration, engaging stakeholders, and contributing to sustainable development, while fostering equity and socioecological equilibrium across sectors and living species. Legislation is crucial for advancing One Health by establishing structures that foster collaboration, define roles and responsibilities, and support sustainable outcomes. To enhance its effectiveness, One Health must be integrated into legal frameworks addressing global challenges at the intersection of human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health, through flexible, context-specific legal frameworks adaptable to emerging and evolving threats. This paper identifies four legal elements for embedding One Health into legislation: (i) normative integration (bridging different legal domains); (ii) multisectoral and multidisciplinary collaboration; (iii) stewardship and the sustainable management of common goods beyond human interests; and (iv) stakeholder engagement, ensuring inclusive participation. These elements are interconnected and interdependent, collectively forming a comprehensive foundation for integrating One Health into legal frameworks. They have the potential to dismantle sectoral silos, foster multidisciplinary collaboration, and advance stakeholder engagement and the recognition of the intrinsic value of all species. At the same time, these elements also function as strategies, offering practical pathways for legislative design and implementation. The paper also provides examples of their implementation and suggests avenues for future research.