2 Student Groups Recognized for One Health Day Events

One Health Day—an international campaign co-coordinated by the One Health Commission, the One Health Initiative, and the One Health Platform Foundation— is celebrated around the world every year on November 3. To coincide with the holiday, various One Health Day events are held across the globe to promote the campaign’s focus of improving quality of life for all humans, animals, and plants through collaborative efforts across various disciplines.

Initiated in 2016, the goal of One Health Day is to engage as many people as possible in related education and awareness events. And the concept is gaining momentum. In 2017, there were over 110 events in more than 28 countries. Many of those events were student-led and put the organizers in the running for the coveted One Health Day Student Events Competition.

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This year, 2 teams will be recognized for their One Health Day campaigns and events: the Makerere University One Health Student Innovation Club from Uganda and Iowa One Health. Each team will be awarded $2000 for their efforts.

To qualify for the One Health Day Student Events Competition, the student-led events must:

• Occur between September 1 and November 30
• Meet a set of qualifying criteria, such as being organized by team members in “good standing” at their university
• Submit a post-event summary

The Makerere University One Health Student Innovation Club organized a rabies vaccination and awareness campaign in Uganda. Held from September 28-30, students from the Makerere club helped vaccinate more than 100 dogs and cats against the disease. The club’s members also participated in community sensitization and awareness creation on rabies and its impact in the communities of Kanyanya, Kabowa, and Kawaala.

Iowa One Health—comprised of recent graduates, graduate students, and undergraduate students from both the University of Iowa and Iowa State University—organized the second Iowa One Health Conference on October 14 at the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Open to the public, this conference boasted multiple sessions led by professionals to help increase students’ understanding of the One Health concept.

The 2 student-led groups will be officially awarded their prizes at the 5th International One Health Congress, held in Saskatoon, Canada, from June 22-25.

Have an idea for an event in your community? The 2018 One Health Day Student competition will launch in April 2018 with similar criteria.