Overview of the One Health Principles and Concepts Module

There is abundant evidence and lessons learned that no single sector or department can sufficiently manage the challenges of public health in any country, region or continent. Experiences from the fight against Ebola last year and the highly pathogenic avian influenza in the past few years demonstrated the effectiveness of multi-sectoral, multi-agency approaches that are not limited by national or regional borders in dealing with public health threats. In response to this challenge, the One Health approach has been advocated as the global framework for strengthening collaboration and capacities of the sectors and actors involved in health service delivery.

One Health is defined as the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment. The One Health paradigm emerged from the recognition that the wellbeing of humans, animals and ecosystems are interrelated and interdependent, and there is need for more systematic and cross-sectoral approaches to identifying and responding to global public health emergencies and other health threats arising at the human-animal ecosystem interface. The One Health concept is therefore a worldwide strategy for expanding interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for humans, animals and the environment. The synergism achieved will advance health care for the 21st century and beyond by accelerating biomedical research discoveries, enhancing public health efficacy, expeditiously expanding the scientific knowledge base, and improving medical education and clinical care. When properly implemented, it will help protect and save untold millions of human and animal lives in present and future generations.

One Health Central and Eastern Africa (OHCEA) is a network of universities in Central and Eastern Africa which are collaborating to build One Health capacity and academic partnerships between the member institutions in the region and with governments. The overall goal of this collaboration is to enhance One Health policy formation and implementation, to contribute to improved capacity of countries to respond to any emerging pandemics in the region. The OHCEA networks’ vision is to be a global leader in One Health, promoting sustainable health for prosperous communities, productive animals and balanced ecosystems. OHCEA seeks to expand the human resource base needed to detect and respond to potential pandemic disease outbreaks, and increase integration of animal, wildlife and human disease surveillance and outbreak response systems.

This module introduces the One Health approach for addressing issues at the interface of humans, animals and the environment. Key outcomes of this module are the ability to:

  1. i)  understand the principles of One Health approach concept.
  2. ii)  understand the benefit of One Health approach.
  3. iii)  appreciate the value of working in multidisciplinary setting.
  4. iv)  apply One Health principles to infectious diseases management

This will enable participants to acquire the knowledge, skills and transformation of attitudes regarding One Health issues and, to apply and promote the One Health (OH) approach in addressing public health challenges at the national and regional levels.