In February 2023, Zambia launched its National One Health Strategic Plan (2022-2026) with emphasis on multisectoral collaborative to safeguard public health. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and its ripple effects, the Zambian government through the Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) mobilized One Health (OH) experts to formulate a One Health strategic plan or the country. The ZNPHI worked in close collaboration with the Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA) project, which had started implementation in Zambia in 2022, with the aim of operationalizing OH in the country. COHESA further supported the NOHSP formulation process through literature review, data synthesis, elaboration and final review as well as production of the National One Health Strategic Plan.
The process entailed mobilization, advocacy, experts’ identification as well as a series of consultative meetings organized by ZNPHI working with COHESA and other key OH partners. In May 2022, a two-day workshop was organized to determine and prioritize the development of the National One Health Strategic Plan (NOHSP). The meeting was attended by national operational and technical leads from relevant government ministries, departments working in animal, environmental and human health sectors as well as cooperating partners. Key partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (US), UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), formerly Public Health England), Africa CDC and COHESA-Zambia outlined their roles in supporting OH activities and what a NOHSP should entail. Participants identified strengths, opportunities, gaps and challenges in implementing an OH approach; prioritized objectives for OH and activities necessary to achieve those objectives.
Some of the strengths identified by the stakeholders were that the animal, human and environment health sectors were already collaborating regularly and coordinated their activities at national level, and that strides had been made to prevent, detect assess/investigate and respond to one or more prioritized zoonoses. Likewise, they demonstrated ability to detect new or emerging zoonotic diseases on some occasions (Covid-19, Rabies, Ebola, Anthrax etc.).
The challenges identified included the fact that Zambia was yet to anchor OH coordination in legislature; there was insufficient coordination, and a platform was yet to be fully established for OH in the country, emphasizing the need to operationalize OH. Overall, legislation and regulations related to animal disease prevention and control were mostly outdated, incomplete, obsolete or even non-existent in some cases. Public-Private partnerships were still in their infancy and sustainable operational budgets for veterinary services were insufficient.
However, opportunities such as learning from past and current emergence events existed. During the gap analysis, it was noted that to learn effectively, there was need to gather evidence and assess prevailing risks. There was need to obtain more evidence through research and in-depth study of each facet of OH, an aspect which came in handy since COHESA was conducting OH baseline surveys and assessing the status of OH in the country which provided invaluable data to the process.
National Bridging Workshop
To further strengthen the NOHSP formulation process, COHESA Zambia and the Zambia National Public Health Institute held the National Bridging Workshop (NBW) from the 19th to 21st October 2022 in Livingstone. The NBW for One Health is a collaborative initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), FAO, as well as The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which is the leading global authority on environmental issues.
The NBW enhances coordination between human, animal, and environmental health sectors to better prevent, detect, and respond to zoonotic diseases and other health threats and it was good for creating a firm foundation in the development of the OHSP for Zambia. https://gphihr.tghn.org/news/one-health-national-bridging-workshop-zambia/.
Operationalizing the NOHSP
Following the launch of the NOHSP and the one-year implementation plan, through ZNPHI, the Zambian government has appointed One Health focal point persons across all the main key One Health sectors including human, animal, environment and crop health.
COHESA actively participates in the One Health Technical Working Group (OH-TWG) and other allied OH-TWGs such as the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) –TWG among many others.
For more information:
ZNPHI Launches the National One Health Strategic Plan – ZNPHI