One Health Monitoring Tool (OHMT) for the Implementation of Prevention and Control of Zoonoses and Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) in Four Pilot Areas in Indonesia

Abstract

The One Health (OH) approach is widely accepted as the preferred method to address disease threats at the human-animal-environment interface and to help address emerging and endemic zoonotic diseases.A monitoring and evaluation tool for OH implementation is required to compile and present strong evidence on the effectiveness of the OH approach for disease prevention, early warning, enhanced detection and response to public health threats. This tool would be useful for policymakers and donors to act strategically and target budget and other resources to increase the effectiveness and operational aspects of OH disease prevention and control on the ground. The monitoring and evaluation methods include focus group discussions with key stakeholders, key informant interviews with multi-sectoral field officers, questionnaires, field observation, and data collection on detected and reported disease events. The OH monitoring tool (OHMT) consists of three sets of criteria: 1) communication, coordination, collaboration; 2) multi-sectoral disease response; and 3) sustainability. These criteria are scored at five capacity levels (no capacity; limited capacity; developed capacity; demonstrated capacity; and sustainable capacity). In January 2016, four districts in Indonesia were selected as One Health pilot areas based on their high-risk for zoonotic diseases. One Health capacity building activities were implemented in the pilot districts involving three technical sectors, namely animal health, public health, and wildlife health, to improve field officers' capacities to prevent, detect and respond to zoonotic disease events. There is limited literature on the methods and monitoring tools available to evaluate implementation of the OH approach at the field level. Therefore, in 2018, the Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services (DGLAHS), Ministry of Agriculture and FAO developed the OHMT to track and evaluate the implementation of OH-focused field activities, understand the challenges experienced by field officers, and propose solutions for the prevention and control of zoonoses and EID.