One Health gains momentum in Africa but room exists for improvement

Fasina, F. O. et al. (2022) One Health gains momentum in Africa but room exists for improvement. One Health, 15, 100428. (doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2022.100428) (PMID:36277101) (PMCID:PMC9582571)

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Abstract

Objectives: The degree of One-Healthiness of a system relates to the effectiveness of an institution to operate within the six main dimensions which identify to what extent it complies with One Health concept. This paper evaluates institutional compliance with One Health concept in 14 institutions from eight African countries. Methods: We utilised the adapted Network for the Evaluation of One Health (NEOH) tool. The institutions included six national One Health platforms and eight other institutions utilizing One Health approaches. Semi-quantitative evaluation of One Health platforms' competencies in six aspects/dimensions concerning One Health operations and infrastructure: Systems Thinking, Planning, Transdisciplinary working, Sharing, Learning and Systemic Organization, was conducted. Results: The evaluation revealed that although all aspects of One Health scored above average, systemic organization and working in One Health were the strongest areas where tremendous gains had been made across the evaluated countries. The aspects of planning, sharing, learning, and thinking should be optimized to achieve gains emanating from One Health approaches in Africa. Cultural and social balance, and integrated health approach were the strongest areas under working and thinking respectively. Thinking was particularly challenged in areas of dimensions coverage and balance, while planning was challenged in the areas of capacity for detection, identification, monitoring of infectious diseases; biosafety and quality management; skills through taught and distance-learning programmes; information and communication technologies to support learning and skills through research apprenticeships. Conclusion: We conclude that although One Health has gained momentum in Africa, there still exists room for improvement. The revealed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and gaps in One Health implementation provide an opportunity for prioritization and refocusing of efforts and resources to strengthen the identified weak areas.

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:One Health index, One Health evaluation, Transdisciplinary, One Health ratio, Integrated approaches to health, National One Health Platform, Functionality
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Sambo, Dr Maganga
Authors: Fasina, F. O., Bett, B., Dione, M., Mutua, F., Roesel, K., Thomas, L., Kwoba, E., Ayebazibwe, C., Mtika, N., Gebeyehu, D. T., Mtui-Malamsha, N., Sambo, M., Swai, E. S., and Bebay, C.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:One Health
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:2352-7714
ISSN (Online):2352-7714
Published Online:18 August 2022
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 The Authors
First Published:First published in One Health 15: 100428
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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