One-health approach for combating zoonoses

Recent research indicates that zoonotic diseases will continue to grow and become a leading cause of animal and human casualties. Thus, healthcare workers, including animal health workers, will increasingly face substantial challenges in controlling such diseases, as these zoonotic diseases will continue to evolve and develop into new strains of pathogens or completely new pathogens along with complex disease dynamics. This complex nature of diseases underpins the importance of an integrated One-Health Approach (OHA) to address zoonotic diseases. Thus, this approach has emerged as a specified field of disease prevention and control that aims to promote the overall well-being of humans, animals and the environment.  

Although OHA has got a boost in many countries, it is rarely institutionalized. The lack of translation of scientific studies for the benefit of local communities has made people reluctant to follow OHA. It received greater attention from prominent organizations such as WHO, OIE, FAO, CDC and EU, leading to the development of a joint plan of action for the integration of OHA into national disease prevention and control strategies, giving rise to one-health organizations and integrated disease control models. Furthermore, many developed and developing countries have started to work on a one-health approach and developed legislations and laws to guide OH actions. Now, the gradual integration of the OHA is occurring across the various areas of prevention and control of diseases. 

Despite the acknowledged importance of the one-health approach for effective prevention and control of diseases, the barriers to the implementation of OHA persist in many Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). These barriers include a lack of qualified one-health professionals, funding constraints, a silo mentality among all concerned stakeholders, lack of intersectoral collaboration and political will, absence of collaboration among all stakeholders and inadequate investment by the government to promote OHA. Furthermore, there exists a dearth of research that involves the cost-effectiveness of OHA. This absence of information is a serious limitation for assessing the usefulness of OHA, whose application in the field condition is extremely poor. This paucity of data might be due to several factors, including wildlife professionals being excluded from multidisciplinary one-health action committees or lacking resources/measures to effectively account for sociocultural systems. However, despite having such challenges, these challenges represent opportunities for better integration and implementation of OHA involving all stakeholders, ranging from policymakers to wildlife and environmental professionals.

The OH activities have historically been disregarded in many developed and developing countries. In addition, factors that affect the implementation of OHA are poorly understood. Lack of collaboration and communication among all concerned stakeholders are pervasive, and wildlife and environmental professionals are neglected in OH action policies. Furthermore, due to a limited understanding of OHA among ground-level stakeholders, implementation of OHA has not yielded intended results. Lack of qualified one-health professionals in the field conditions, coupled with inadequate infrastructure, has prevented instant action in the field conditions. Lack of awareness among the public regarding the OHA has led to a low level of public acceptance of OHA.

Effective prevention and control of diseases needs a comprehensive and systematic approach involving all stakeholders with multidisciplinary interventions. A growing body of knowledge has shown that an integrated OHA is a cost-effective way to prevent and control diseases. Thus, integration of OHA across all disciplines of governance in all three tiers of government as well as research in institutions is essential for effective OH action.

Long-term investments in awareness campaigns for stakeholder behavioral change, research on the cost-effectiveness of OHA, and collaborative partnerships are necessary if OHA is to be effective.  A constant effort should be made to promote better knowledge and understanding of one-health issues in society either through awareness campaigns, rallies, seminars, and dissertation groups or through social media platforms. As there is an acute lack of one-health experts in many developing countries, the training of non-specialists under the supervision of one-health experts and strengthening their capacity in prevention and control of zoonotic diseases, disaster response, and risk reduction, data collection, and communication would be an effective approach. To raise awareness among public, school and university curricula should be updated with the inclusion of OHA. 

Those students in school and university then can teach their parents about one-health issues through lessons learned in school. And, the parents by being aware of OH issues, can apply preventive and control measures to prevent disease occurrences. Therefore, students should be educated and supported to facilitate the implementation of one-health activities. Using education platforms could be a cost-effective method involving little or no financial resources, raising awareness to convey a message about one-health systems.

Healthcare professionals working in field conditions should be trained on OHA. Now, it is time for all countries to act together to achieve the goal of disease control and elimination as envisioned by One-Health policy documents by building a strong intersectoral collaboration, funding allocation, infrastructures, human resources as well as political commitments.

This OHA should be spearheaded by professional OH actors and/or societies to provide needed expertise to address OH issues. Furthermore, WHO, OIE and FAO should provide support for regional cooperation among countries to build a robust system of OHA plans for better preparedness in dealing with epidemics and preventing as well as controlling zoonotic diseases. Thus, it is high time to implement OHA to tackle infectious diseases.

The author is a Veterinary officer at the Department of Livestock Services (DLS)