Globalizing One Health Requires Consistent and Culturally Appropriate Translation of the Term across Languages

Abstract One Health is a critical approach to global health and its governance. A key challenge in successfully implementing One Health globally is the effective articulation and translation of its ideas, goals, and agenda to align with local contexts, particularly in non-English-speaking regions. In this article, we used document analysis and expert interviews to explore how the term One Health is translated and adopted in Chinese. We identified 20 different Chinese translations of the English term One Health across various document items including policy documents, conference briefs, media news, and journal articles. We examine the causes and implications of these translation inconsistencies and recommend 同一健康 (tongyi jiankang) as the most accurate and culturally appropriate Chinese translation of One Health. Because translation inconsistencies extend beyond Chinese-speaking societies, we discuss how they can pose significant challenges to One Health initiatives more broadly—and ultimately to global health.