Operationalisation of consensual One Health roadmaps in countries for improved IHR capacities and health security

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a devastating reminder that mitigating the threat of emerging zoonotic outbreaks relies on our collective capacity to work across human health, animal health and environment sectors. Despite the critical need for shared approaches, collaborative benchmarks in the International Health Regulations (IHR) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and more specifically the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) often reveal low levels of performance in collaborative technical areas (TAs), thus identifying a real need to work on the human–animal–environment interface to improve health security. The National Bridging Workshops (NBWs) proposed jointly by the World Organisation of Animal Health and World Health Organization (WHO) provide opportunity for national human health, animal health, environment and other relevant sectors in countries to explore the efficiency and gaps in their coordination for the management of zoonotic diseases. The results, gathered in a prioritised roadmap, support the operationalisation of the recommendations made during JEE for TAs where a multisectoral One Health approach is beneficial. For those collaborative TAs (12 out of 19 in the JEE), more than two-thirds of the recommendations can be implemented through one or multiple activities jointly agreed during NBW. Interestingly, when associated with the WHO Benchmark Tool for IHR, it appears that NBW activities are often associated with lower level of performance than anticipated during the JEE missions, revealing that countries often overestimate their capacities at the human–animal–environment interface. Deeper, more focused and more widely shared discussions between professionals highlight the need for concrete foundations of multisectoral coordination to meet goals for One Health and improved global health security through IHR.

Dynamic preparedness metric: a paradigm shift to measure and act on preparedness

“…To achieve this goal, an online interactive dashboard has been developed for countries to access quarterly estimates of health emergency preparedness with links to suggested actions. These key actions will be informed by the goals of the WHO benchmarks for IHR (2005) capacities, 10 which are connected to capacity scores in the DPM for each country or region. Furthermore, the DPM index can pinpoint areas where data are scarce and thus guide global health research agendas.…”

Contribution of the one health approach to strengthening health security in Uganda: a case study

“…Country level assessments are crucial in identifying areas of improvements. Rosque and colleagues’ analysis of national bridging workshops (NBW) activities and collaborative reported that countries overestimated their capacities at the human–animal–environment interface [ 21 ]. Munyua and colleagues conducted a 10-year assessment of the One Health approach in Kenya that yielded similar findings as our study [ 22 ].…”

From theory to practice: Analyzing factors that foster the successful implementation of the one health approach for enhancing health security in Cameroon

“…The One Health approach, grounded in the interconnectedness of humans, animals, and ecosystems [ 4 , 5 ] is crucial for building IHR capacity. The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic serves as a stark reminder of the necessity for collective capacity across human health, animal health, and environmental sectors [ 6 ].…”

“…Challenges persist in the design and implementation of One Health interventions, including conflicts between sectors and disciplines, power struggles, and conflicts of interest [ 8 ]. Multisectoral collaboration has been recognized as a fundamental aspect of the One Health approach, highlighting the need for coordinated efforts [ 6 , 8 ]. Weak institutions, fragmentation, and inadequate political commitment further hinder progress [ 9 ].…”