The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE) recently published its Wildlife Health Framework ‘protecting wildlife health to achieve One Health’. It recognises that animal (both wild and domestic) health, balanced ecosystems, and biodiversity contribute to achieving One Health. It also stresses that in response to global trends in disease emergence and biodiversity loss there is an urgent need to strengthen the wildlife component of One Health. The framework sets out concrete actions in order to manage the risk of disease emergence at the human-animal-ecosystem interface and to protect wildlife health, and stresses that the goals cannot be achieved by WOAH alone. It therefore identifies IUCN as one the key collaborators (alongside Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) that need to work with WOAH in order to implement the actions and achieve its goals. Through this project IUCN will coordinate IUCN Commission input to WOAH processes for developing or updating OIE Standards and guidelines on wildlife disease surveillance, risk assessment and risk management.  

Based on the mandates provided to IUCN through its Programme, and the WOAH Wildlife Health Framework, IUCN will work with EcoHealth Alliance, an IUCN (NGO) Member, which is a global environmental health non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting wildlife and public health from the emergence of disease. Together, they will work with WOAH to support the implementation of Output 4 of the Framework to ‘develop or update OIE Standards and guidelines on wildlife disease surveillance, risk assessment and risk management relevant to spillover events of pathogens amongst wildlife, domestic animals, and humans’. To do this IUCN, EcoHealth Alliance and additional expertise from IUCN Commissions (to be identified once needs are known) will engage with WOAH to help produce and disseminate guidelines on wildlife disease.