One Health gains momentum in Africa but room exists for improvement.
Folorunso O Fasina, Bernard Bett, Michel Dione, Florence Mutua, Kristina Roesel, Lian Thomas, Emmah Kwoba, Chrisistom Ayebazibwe, Nebart Mtika, Daniel T Gebeyehu, Niwael Mtui-Malamsha, Maganga Sambo, Emmanuel S Swai, Charles Bebay
Author Information
Folorunso O Fasina: Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Nairobi, Kenya.
Bernard Bett: International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Michel Dione: International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Florence Mutua: International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Kristina Roesel: International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Lian Thomas: International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Emmah Kwoba: International Training and Education Centre for Health (I-TECH-Kenya)-University of Washington, Kenya.
Chrisistom Ayebazibwe: Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Kampala, Uganda.
Nebart Mtika: Youth Leadership Development on Conservation, Nature Kit, Kasungu, Malawi.
Daniel T Gebeyehu: Department of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, Wollo University, Dessie 1145, Ethiopia.
Niwael Mtui-Malamsha: Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Maganga Sambo: Department of Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences, Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania.
Emmanuel S Swai: Directorate of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Dodoma, Tanzania.
Charles Bebay: Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Nairobi, Kenya.
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: , 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.
