The One Health Summit in Lyon, France, was co-chaired by Ghana’s President John Mahama alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
The One Health Summit is a high-level global gathering that brings together leaders, scientists, and policymakers to address interconnected health challenges affecting humans, animals, and the environment.
The “One Health” approach recognizes that issues such as pandemics, climate change, food safety, and biodiversity loss are deeply linked, and that effective solutions require coordinated action across sectors and borders.
At the summit, President Mahama highlighted the growing complexity of global health threats and emphasized the urgent need to adopt the One Health approach as a practical framework for prevention and response.
He called for a decisive shift “from commitment to action,” urging world leaders to move beyond dialogue and deliver concrete, measurable outcomes that benefit people, communities, and the planet.
He also underscored the value of Africa’s rich heritage of traditional knowledge and sustainable practices, noting that these indigenous solutions can play a critical role in shaping resilient, inclusive, and locally grounded responses to global health challenges.
