One Health researchers in East and South-East Asia are invited to submit research proposals for funding through a new co-investment between ACIAR and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
With an initial combined investment of AUD$4.3 million, the ACIAR/IDRC Research Program on One Health (AIRPOH) will form a portfolio of interconnected projects aiming to have a transformational impact on human, animal and environmental health.
The program's first phase calls for research proposals from One Health experts across Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
Applications can be submitted via the AIRPOH webpage and close 10 January 2022.
ACIAR Research Program Manager for Livestock Systems, Dr Anna Okello, said the new program will help promote new ideas and thinking around the application of One Health approaches within agrifood systems in Southeast Asia.
'One Health is the recognition that the health of humans, animals, and the broader environment in which we all coexist are inherently linked,' said Dr Okello.
'From a public health perspective, we're not going to see optimal health in global human populations if our agrifood systems are broken, or our environment is polluted, or if our veterinary services are not adequately resourced to control diseases in the systems that produce our food.
'This new program will look to engage teams of national experts throughout South-East Asia to promote new ideas and thinking around applying One Health approaches within agrifood systems to benefit human, animal and environmental health.'
The new program will commission up to 5 research for development projects by July 2022 that will run for 3 years through to 2025.
AIRPOH is the latest co-investment initiative between ACIAR and IDRC, following the launch of a Food Loss Research Program in June. ACIAR and IDCR have been successfully collaborating to invest and support international agricultural research for development since 2013.
Visit the AIRPOH webpage to learn more.
