On World One Health Day, a gathering of about a hundred delegates from twelve Asia-Pacific countries came together at Temasek Shophouse in Singapore to begin something that is, at its heart, an old human wish made newer: that a sickness in an animal or a river or a forest might be noticed before it finds a person. The Asia Pacific One Health Initiative, led by Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, proposes to stitch together the scattered records of human, wildlife and environmental health so that early warnings no longer arrive as a first patient in a clinic. Its opening project turns toward zoon
Temasek Life Sciences Lab Launches APOHI to Link Human, Animal and Environmental Disease Surveillance
Learn of an emerging disease from its first human patients
Mark
Why start with malaria in Borneo rather than something like a coronavirus?
Mimi
Borneo is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, and changing forest and land use can shift how people, wildlife and mosquitoes interact. It's a contained place to test cross-border data sharing.
Mark
So the malaria work is partly a pilot for the system itself.
Mimi
Yes. The programme is meant to test cross-border sharing, joint analysis and coordinated action, and the lessons are supposed to carry to other diseases.
Luke
Worth noting that's a stated intention. Nothing in the launch reporting shows results yet, or how the data sharing will actually work.
Mark
The CDC figure says three in four new infectious diseases in people come from animals. How solid is that?
Mimi
It's attributed to the US CDC, and it's the framing for why animal and environmental signals matter.
Luke
Right, and it's a general statistic, not a finding about Borneo malaria. It supports the rationale, not the programme's effectiveness.
Mark
What about the money?
Mimi
Temasek Foundation, the Gates Foundation and a Philanthropy Asia Alliance community back it, and mobilising sustainable financing is one of its goals.
Luke
No funding amounts were given. And the decade-long ambition is a goal, not a commitment from governments. Participation by the 12 countries at the launch isn't the same as formal buy-in.
El Pulso
- Emerging diseases keep arriving through animals while surveillance remains fragmented across institutions and national borders.
- Delegates from twelve countries and major global health bodies gathered to launch a platform meant to join signals that have long been kept apart.
- The first programme targets zoonotic malaria on Borneo, where forest loss and land-use change are reshaping how people, wildlife and mosquitoes meet.
- Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam must now share data across borders and build joint modelling, a test that depends on trust and sustained funding.
- A ten-year path toward a trusted regional platform has begun, and its trajectory hinges on whether data flows and financing hold.
On World One Health Day, a gathering of about a hundred delegates from twelve Asia-Pacific countries came together at Temasek Shophouse in Singapore to begin something that is, at its heart, an old human wish made newer: that a sickness in an animal or a river or a forest might be noticed before it finds a person. The Asia Pacific One Health Initiative, led by Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, proposes to stitch together the scattered records of human, wildlife and environmental health so that early warnings no longer arrive as a first patient in a clinic. Its opening project turns toward zoonotic malaria on Borneo, where three neighbouring nations share a single island and its changing landscapes, and where the work of watching carefully across borders is only beginning.
On World One Health Day, about a hundred delegates from twelve Asia-Pacific countries gathered at Temasek Shophouse in Singapore to launch the Asia Pacific One Health Initiative, known as APOHI. The idea is simple to state and hard to achieve: connect what is known about human, animal and environmental health so that the first sign of an emerging infectious disease is not a sick person. Hosted by Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and guided by three co-leads, the initiative has drawn support from Temasek Foundation, the Gates Foundation and philanthropic partners, and its launch was welcomed by the World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
The case behind it is a familiar one. Most new human infections originate in animals, as SARS, Nipah and COVID-19 have shown, and the warnings that might have come earlier were often scattered across silos. Mr Ng Boon Heong of Temasek Foundation observed that the region still tends to learn of new diseases from its first human patients. APOHI aims to change that by combining human, wildlife and environmental data and using predictive modelling, working alongside national authorities and existing institutions.
Its first programme takes up zoonotic malaria on Borneo, an island shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. Shifting forests and land use there can change how people, wildlife and mosquitoes interact, and the shared geography makes it a natural testing ground for cross-border surveillance. Lessons from this work are meant to travel to other threats. Over the next decade the initiative hopes to become a trusted regional platform, but its path will depend on whether countries are willing to share data and whether the financing endures.
On World One Health Day, about 100 delegates from 12 Asia-Pacific countries gathered at Temasek Shophouse in Singapore to launch a new regional effort called the Asia Pacific One Health Initiative, or APOHI. Its aim is to connect surveillance of human, wildlife and environmental health so that the first sign of an emerging infectious disease is not a sick person.
APOHI is led by and hosted at Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL). It has three co-leads: Professor Leo Yee Sin, Senior Advisor and Senior Consultant (APOHI) at TLL; Dr Ian Cheong, Senior Principal Investigator and Senior Consultant (APOHI) at TLL; and Dr Lee Fook Kay, Head of the Health Collaborative at Temasek Trust. They will steer the scientific direction, regional partnerships and resource mobilisation. Funding support comes from Temasek Foundation, the Gates Foundation and the Health for Human Potential Community, part of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance.
The launch drew representatives from the World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO Representative to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, gave the keynote. Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry), sent recorded messages of support.
The case for the initiative rests on a familiar pattern. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says three of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in people originate in animals. SARS and Nipah showed how infections cross between species, and COVID-19 showed the cost of being unprepared. The organisers argue that surveillance systems still tend to work in silos, with information split across institutions and borders, which makes early risks hard to spot. Asia-Pacific, with dense populations and rich biodiversity, faces particular exposure to animal-to-human spillover.
Mr Ng Boon Heong, Executive Director and CEO of Temasek Foundation, put it plainly: the region still tends to learn of an emerging disease from its first human patients, because warning signs in animals and the environment are seldom brought together. APOHI, he said, can be a platform for partners to connect those signals. Mr Peter Chia, CEO of TLL, said emerging infectious diseases are a shared challenge no single institution or country can handle alone, and that the lab hopes to help countries spot risks earlier and respond together.
The method is to combine human, wildlife and environmental health data and use predictive modelling to identify risks so intervention can come sooner. APOHI says it will work with national authorities and existing institutions, strengthen regional scientific capability, support responsible data sharing and build lasting partnerships, with participating countries playing central roles in implementation.
The first programme will address zoonotic malaria in Borneo, bringing together researchers and institutions in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. Changing forest and land-use patterns on the island can alter how humans, wildlife and mosquitoes interact, which may affect the risk of transmission. Because three countries share the island, it also offers a setting for cross-border research. The programme is meant to test integrated surveillance and predictive modelling, and to develop methods for cross-border data sharing, joint analysis and coordinated action, with lessons applied to other threats in line with participating countries' priorities.
Over the next decade, APOHI aims to become a trusted regional platform for One Health collaboration, covering integrated surveillance, predictive intelligence and cross-border research. Beyond Borneo, it plans to build scientific capacity, turn research into public health policy and practice, and mobilise sustainable financing for pandemic prevention. Whether countries share data across borders, and whether the financing holds, will determine how far it gets.
Citas Notables
Emerging infectious diseases are a shared challenge that no single institution or country can address alone.— Peter Chia, CEO, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory
The region still tends to learn of an emerging disease from its first human patients, because warning signs in animals and the environment are seldom brought together.— Ng Boon Heong, CEO, Temasek Foundation (paraphrased)
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