The Urban-Suburban Nexus towards One Health approach

The Africa Centre of Excellence for Water Management in Collaboration with The Arctic University of Norway, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, and Malawi University of Science and Technology won a new capacity building project. The project titled “The Urban-Suburban Nexus towards One Health approach” is a six-year project which will be implemented during 2021-2026.

The aim of this project is to train and educate a workforce, who are equipped to deal with the interrelated and interconnected challenges of human, animal and environmental health. “One Health”, is a public health approach promoted by the WHO that considers the health of humans, animals and the environment in all policies and programmes. This requires a paradigm shift in teaching and training of veterinary and human health professionals, environmental and social scientists, and to bring their understanding to a level that they can assess the implication of any change sub-system or a policy on the entire system.

Sub-Saharan-African countries are prime examples of the problems of environmental pollution, lack of civic amenities and pace of urbanization. Thus, they need adequately trained One Health professionals to take on and help solve these challenges. The proposed project brings together a multi-disciplinary consortium led by Arctic University of Norway. Addis Ababa University (Led by Dr. Feleke Zewge), Malawi University of Science and Technology, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, and Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research join to introduce One Health into education of different professional programs, particularly to address the gaps in the training of One Health professionals at AAU and MUST. The work involves the development of a novel, competence and evidence-based One Health curricula at MSc. and PhD levels. Scholarships will be available for students to encourage participating in the project tasks. Staff and student mobility between partner’s institutes will offer learning in an environment other than their own institute to broaden their vision. We envisage that the graduating One Health professionals, trained in an interdisciplinary framework, will be capable of solving both the current and emerging health threats to improve the global health. The novel training program that will be developed will serve as a model for adaptation and upscaling to other countries in the region.

Today’s public health challenges are complex and crosscutting. Antimicrobial resistance, pollution, food security, energy security, biosafety, biosecurity, and emerging and reemerging infectious diseases are associated with changes in land use, population growth, urbanization, global travel and trade, industrial activities, and climate change. “One Health”, is a public health approach is an evolving field promoted by the WHO that considers the health of humans, animals and the environment in all policies and programs. This requires a paradigm shift in teaching and training of veterinary and human health professionals, environmental and social scientists, and to bring their understanding to a level that they can assess the implication of any change in sub-system or a policy on the entire system. Sub-Saharan-African countries including Ethiopia are prime examples of the problems of environmental pollution, lack of civic amenities and pace of urbanization. Thus, they need adequately trained One Health professionals to take on and help solve these challenges.

The curriculum will be designed around key One Health and each topic will emphasize a slightly different element of the One Health framework:
1) Infectious zoonotic diseases and global health,
2) Naturally occurring shared disease in companion animals that can serve as models for human disease,
3) Human-animal interactions, and
4) Impact of environmental health on human and animal health,
5) the concept of ‘One Health’ and its application in the development of health policy and the control and prevention of infectious diseases.

Professionals in human health (doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, epidemiologists), animal health (veterinarians, paraprofessionals, agricultural workers), environment (ecologists, wildlife experts), and other areas of expertise need to communicate, collaborate on, and coordinate activities. Other relevant players in a One Health approach could include law enforcement, policymakers, agriculture, communities, and even pet owners. No one person, organization, or sector can address issues at the animal-human-environment interface alone.