We are excited to share our recent publication where researchers have developed the country’s first One Health Index Calculator, recently published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (2025). This innovative tool addresses a long-standing gap in the Indian context: while the OneHealth framework linking human, animal, and environmental health is widely accepted, the ability to measure and monitor progress in a localized, data-driven way has remained elusive.
India needs context-sensitive tools to measure OneHealth progress. Existing global indices aren’t tailored to India’s unique demographics, ecology, and disease landscape. This calculator fills that gap. The newly developed calculator draws on 156 carefully selected indicators (from an initial pool of 216) and employs advanced methodologies like fuzzy rating and entropy weighting to generate comprehensive, composite health scores at the national level. The results reveal a compelling story, states with higher health index scores often show stronger budgetary commitment, particularly in the human health domain. However, there are significant disparities across regions, and a persistent lack of data in areas such as zoonotic disease surveillance and environmental health.
This tool is more than just an academic exercise it offers real-world policy utility. It allows state and national governments to benchmark performance, identify sectoral gaps, and better align health strategies with India’s National Health Policy, AMR action plan, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, it underscores the urgent need for inter-sectoral collaboration, data sharing, and investments in integrated health governance.
As India works to operate a health approach to scale, this index acts both as a mirror that reflects our current stand and helps guide as a map where we need to invest further.
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