Category: News

Our health and wellbeing start with the environment around us. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the environment we live in. This simple idea lies at the heart of the One Health approach, which recognizes that the health of people, animals and environment  are closely connected and calls for action  to protect each of them but through joint efforts.

As  the world marks  One Health Day, this calls for  experts from public health, animal health, agriculture and environmental sectors together with policymakers and local communities to join hands  in developing  integrated solutions to address  health challenges that affect everyone.

This vision is at the heart of the global Quadripartite collaboration between the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). By bringing together their respective expertise and mandates, these four organizations support countries in putting One Health into practice – strengthening prevention, surveillance and preparedness while addressing the environmental and societal factors that influence health.

As the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Armenia drew a close, we have an opportunity to reflect on this connection and what it means for our global future and that to Armenia. Protecting nature and biodiversity is not only an environmental responsibility; it is also an investment in healthier, safer and more resilient communities.

Armenia offers a clear example of why the One Health approach holds value. The country’s success in eliminating malaria in 2005 demonstrates what coordinated public health action can achieve. Yet as climatic and environmental conditions evolve, new challenges with  invasive mosquitoes are emerging. Recent cases of West Nile virus, together with persistent risks from leishmaniasis and tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, underscore the close connections between human, animal and environmental health. These risks illustrate the health dimensions of biodiversity. Mosquitoes, sandflies and ticks depend on particular environmental conditions and interact with wildlife, domestic animals and human populations. Changes in temperature, land use, vegetation, water systems or animal habitats can influence their distribution and activity. Human behavior, urbanization and increased interaction between people and animals can further shape transmission risks.

One Health is no longer optional and should move from concept  to practice. For Armenia, One Health means working together to help safeguard food and water sources, strengthen preparedness for disease outbreaks and build  healthier communities. Together with scientific research, community engagement and sustained political commitment, it can contribute to a more resilient future for both people and the environment.

Armenia can make One Health a lasting national priority   because a healthier environment is not simply a legacy for future generations; it is essential to the health and security of people today and when nature thrives, Armenia thrives.

Article provided by the WHO Country Office in Armenia.

Armenia has one competitor at the World Weightlifting Championships in Ningbo, China, on 5 November.

Alina Sukiasyan will compete in Group C of the women’s 77kg category.

Competition will begin at 09:30 Yerevan time.

Armenia’s Aleksandra Grigoryan has already won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk at these championships.

Armenia’s Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Zhanna Andreasyan, met Lithuania’s Minister of Education, Science and Sport, Raminta Popoviene, on the sidelines of the 19th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers Responsible for Sport in the Principality of Monaco.

The Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport announced this in a statement.

The ministers discussed opportunities to develop and expand cooperation between the two countries in sport, education and science.

In sport, the discussions covered exchanges of experience in sports policy and governance, as well as transparency in sports organisations. In this context, the ministers stressed the importance of establishing and strengthening direct links between sporting bodies.

They also discussed preparations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup planned in Armenia in 2029, focusing particularly on the construction and management of stadiums and related infrastructure and highlighting the importance of exchanging international experience.

The meeting also addressed expanding partnerships between universities, promoting academic mobility and implementing joint educational programmes. In science, the participants discussed opportunities to expand cooperation through Erasmus+ programmes.

The meeting was attended by Khoren Zargaryan, Director of the Sports Management Centre; Arpine Gevorgyan, adviser to Armenia’s Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport; and Giedrius Grybauskas, Lithuania’s Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sport.

Trilateral talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine, scheduled for 10–11 November in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, will focus on security issues. The meeting will be held behind closed doors, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on 4 November.

He said the discussions would cover security in general, as well as ensuring security and providing security guarantees for the parties involved.

The Russian presidential spokesperson said the timing of the forthcoming talks was in no way linked to the electoral process under way in the United States.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said that anyone expecting a change in Washington’s policy following the US congressional midterm elections is “gravely mistaken”.

The Tasnim news agency reported this, publishing the text of Khamenei’s written statement.

“Those who still harbour even the slightest hope that the behaviour of the dominant system might change as a result of changes in parties or factions, or who believe that making concessions to the US can deter it from hostility towards the Iranian people, are gravely mistaken,” the statement reads.

Iran’s supreme leader also warned that the war in the Middle East would widen further if the United States resumed attacks on the Islamic Republic.

“If such acts of aggression are repeated, the scope of the war will expand considerably,” Khamenei said.

Preliminary results of the congressional midterm elections held on 3 November indicate that the Democrats are gaining control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both previously controlled by President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans.