Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has called for urgent action for African countries to adopt the ‘One Health approach’, a collaborative and multisectoral approach to attain optimal health outcomes for people, animals, plants and other shared environment.
Dr. Chinenye Emelife, Senior Technical Officer at Africa CDC, said this at a continental media workshop for health and science journalists in Africa.
Dr. Emelife said the One Health approach is vital in preventing diseases like Ebola, drug-resistant infections, and climate-linked outbreaks through joint action across sectors.
“Africa is facing rising threats: 75% of new human diseases come from animals. We can’t treat human health in isolation. Animal health, food safety, and climate change are all part of the same equation,” said Dr. Emelife.
The One Health strategy tackles zoonotic diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), food safety, and climate-related health risks.
The approach brings together experts and institutions in human, animal, and environmental health to address shared threats with climate change driving new disease patterns globally.
Dr. Emelife also disclosed that Africa CDC’s One Health Unit which was launched in 2018, has so far helped more than 40 African countries, including Malawi, Uganda and Zambia to develop One Health plans.
She adds that more than 500 experts across human, animal and environmental health across Africa have been trained and supported their institutions to conduct awareness campaigns to combat AMR.
“We need to join forces and invest in prevention, not just emergency response,” said Dr. Emelife.
She therefore called upon journalists to localise One Health stories and hold leaders accountable through enhanced reporting on issues like pet vaccination gaps that result in rabies threat, antibiotic misuse in humans, animals and farming and how floods are causing waterborne disease spikes.
By Doreen Sonani, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
