World Health Day is observed each year on 7 April. This year, the theme is “Together for health. Stand with science.” This day celebrates not only human health, but also that of the planet and the biodiversity it nurtures. This is achieved mainly through a strong focus on the One Health approach. One Health balances and optimises the intersection between the health of people, animals and ecosystems. Did you know that the health of all who share the planet (humans, domestic and wide animals, plants and the wider environment) are closely linked and interdependent? [1]
The One Health approach suggests we collaborate across sectors and disciplines (horizontal coordination) to protect health.[1] It invites us to engage in conversations and cooperations at a community, subnational, national, regional and global level (vertical coordination).[1] While it is quite a challenge to apply a holistic approach that integrates a wide variety of visions, the benefits are numerous.
Have you ever wondered how people’s health is affected by the state of our waters? A healthy ocean supports new medicines, biotechnology, nutritious and sustainable diets and is important for our physical and mental wellbeing.[2] However, human activities such as pollution and overfishing are putting the ocean’s health at risk, which can have negative impact on human health. Human induced stressors can have cascading effects on the ocean’s health and the human communities that depend on it. This is the subject of multiple research projects. For example, researchers at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) investigate the health of the ocean, the human health, and the interactions between both. They rely on observations, models and experiments to understand the underlying mechanisms.[3] In December 2025, an International Conference on Ocean and Human health was organised. [4]
A Healthy Ocean is one of the seven United Nations Ocean Decade outcomes which describe the “ocean we want” by 2030. The other outcomes include a clean ocean, a productive ocean, a predicted ocean, a safe ocean, an accessible ocean and an inspiring ocean.[5]
Did you know there is a map layer dedicated to the state of bathing water quality in European seas in the European Atlas of the Seas? Have a look and click on the symbols on the map to get more information!
Wish to learn more?
- Have a look at the World Health Day 2026 campaign page;
- Access the State of the Global Climate 2025 report by the World Meteorological Organization to learn about ocean heat content, global mean sea-level rise and ocean acidification ;
- Watch the video about a healthy ocean for the improvement of human health by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy;
- Read the article by the World Resources Institute on four ways ocean health is critical to human health everywhere;
- Explore the wide diversity of Ocean Decade Actions that are carried out across the world to fulfill the Ocean Decade vision of ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’.
The data in the map is provided by EMODnet.
The European Atlas of the Seas is powered by the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). Don’t miss the latest news, register for the monthly EMODnet News Digest.
[1] https://www.who.int/health-topics/one-health#tab=tab_1
[2] https://www.wri.org/insights/how-ocean-health-affects-human-health
[3] https://www.vliz.be/en/sea-health