With each other and for each other - Healthy in Vorpommern

Our society is facing enormous challenges that we can only overcome together.

Climate change, loss of biodiversity, infectious diseases, food insecurity and environmental pollution have consequences for human health and for the health of our environment, including animals and plants.

The One-Health-Region Vorpommern brings together partners from science, business and politics with the aim of strengthening a society that is committed to improving health in Vorpommern on the basis of the One Health approach.

The aim is to bring together the often separate but jointly health-relevant areas of human health, animal health, politics (municipalities and state), the economy (especially agriculture, health economy, tourism), the environment (forests, agricultural land, moors, water, nature reserves, etc.) and civil society (associations, initiatives, etc.) in their efforts to create a "One Health Region Vorpommern" over a period of nine years.

„One Health ist ein kollektiver, vereinender Ansatz, der darauf abzielt, die Gesundheit von Menschen, Tieren und Ökosystemen nachhaltig ins Gleichgewicht zu bringen und zu optimieren.

It recognizes the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and inter-dependent.

The approach mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development.

One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP)

In unserer One-Health-Region geht es darum, ein Bewusstsein für diese Zusammenhänge zu entwickeln. Welche Auswirkungen hat unser tägliches Handeln auf die Gesundheit von Mensch, Tier und Umwelt und was können wir verändern?

The health of people in the region must be considered together with the health of animals and nature as a whole.

The Vorpommern region is located in the far north-east of Germany on the Baltic Sea coast.

Vorpommern is a very rural region. The population density is low and agriculture (especially large farms and fattening farms) is very important. At the same time, there are extensive fallow areas, nature reserves and moors. This means that Western Pomerania has a high animal population and a particularly high level of interdependence between nature, animals and humans. Diseases are regularly introduced, particularly due to the migratory behavior of wild animals (bird migration, wild boar migration, etc.).

Ebenso hat die Gesundheitswirtschaft eine hohe Bedeutung (z.B. viele Reha-Kliniken) und Mecklenburg-Vorpommern erhebt für sich den Anspruch ein Gesundheitsland zu sein. Geradezu widersprüchlich dazu ist Vorpommern eine Region mit einer hohen Morbidität und Mortalität.

At the same time, we find a unique concentration of research expertise in the fields of health, the environment, livestock and infectious diseases in Vorpommern.

Fasst man diese Faktoren zusammen, sehen wir in der Region Vorpommern die Notwendigkeit und die Möglichkeit für die Entwicklung einer One-Health-Region.