Abstract

In East Africa, a region with many endemic and emerging zoonoses, and in countries such as Ethiopia in particular, One Health (OH) approaches are increasingly seen as effective ways, to mitigate the risk of zoonoses at the interface between human, animal and the environment. The OH approach promotes interdisciplinary cooperation and collaboration between researchers and practitioners from the disciplines of human, animal and environmental health. Moreover, it advocates for the establishment of a public health sector model which recognises the imperative to holistically address diseases that occur in the human, animal and environmental health arena.Key informant interviews were conducted with human and animal health practitioners and academic researchers in Ethiopia to collect data on the implementation of the OH approach to manage zoonotic diseases at the human and animal health interface. Participants' observations were undertaken within animal and human health clinics and government laboratories to gather additional data. Environmental health was not considered in this study as it is not yet fully integrated into the OH approach in Ethiopia.The results reveal a lack of interdisciplinary cooperation, collaboration, and coordination between animal and human health practitioners in operationalising the OH framework in Ethiopia. Professionals in academic and non-academic institutions and organisations are interested in implementing the OH approach, however, an organisational "silo" culture constrains collaboration between institutions dealing with animal and human health. Understaffing and underfunding of institutions were also cited as major challenges to the implementation of a OH approach. Lack of interdisciplinary training for animal and human health practitioners hinders collaboration in the management of zoonoses.Policymakers need to go beyond the rhetoric to a genuine focus on reform of health management and implement policies that bridge human, animal and environmental health. There is a need for multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary training in human, animal and environmental health and collaborative research for the management of zoonoses.

Keywords

One health; One health framework; Zoonoses; Integrated service delivery; Community health workers; Health practitioners; Infection prevention and control; Multidisciplinary research

Published in

One Health
2023, Volume: 16, article number: 100521
Publisher: ELSEVIER

SLU Authors

• Lindahl, Johanna

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
  • Uppsala University

Associated SLU-program

AMR: Bacteria


UKÄ Subject classification

Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2023.100521

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/123742