By Saio Marrah
A document from One Health (OH) has indicated that over 75% of new and emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals. Rabies, Lassa fever and Ebola are among the diseases highlighted.
This was revealed at the commemoration of Global OH at the Freetown City Council Auditorium on Thursday 3rd November, 2022.
The country’s theme for this year’s OH commemoration is “One Health Collaboration for a Healthier Sierra Leone.”
Dr. Alhaji U. Njai, Lecturer from the University of Sierra Leone said OH is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystem.
He said it recognizes the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment. This is because he said they are closely linked and inter dependent.
He said the approach mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster wellbeing. He said it also addresses threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air.
Dr Njai added that it also ensures safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development.
The mission of the OH he said is to create a resilient one health system with efficient multi sectorial coordination to prevent , detect and respond to emerging and re-emerging health threats to humans, animals and the environment.
He said its goals are to establish institutional arrangements to enable effective coordination and collaboration between OH sectors ad partners and develop technical capacity for the prevention, detection and control of threats..
Its strategic pillars he said are integrated surveillance and laboratory, institutional governance and project management, strategic commutation and advocacy, and among others.
He informed partners that Sierra Leone has gone far ahead of many other African countries in the implementation of OH. Some of the success stories he said have to do with the improved collaboration between the OH sectors that include Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Ministry of Environment and Office of National Security.
The Deputy Director of Livestock and Veterinary Service Division at the Ministry of Agriculture, Rev. Lydia Sesay, praised the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for helping them establish their central veterinary Unit in Bombali District, which she said is up and running. She said that has helped them to do their own detections, laboratory examination and come up with confirmation of certain diseases of which they were not able to do before.
She said the central laboratory has been there for decades, but was not functional until FAO’s arrival which she said has enabled it to be working effectively with proper staff.
She however noted that they do not have enough staff at the veterinary unit, with the country having only five vets in the country.
But she said their ministry has now rehabilitated the livestock disease border post even though they still need staff. She therefore emphasized the urgency of more staff for border management.
In his keynote address on behalf of the Vice President, the Minister of Environment, Prof. Foday M. Jaward, said this year’s theme calls for a rethink of institutional approach to build health threats into a more integrated and holistic response that minimizes the impact on especially the vulnerable people like women, children, the aged and people with special needs.
He said inter sectorial and interdisciplinary collaboration, cooperation and partnership should be the norm and requires a mind shift from their normal work processes.
He noted that OH is not a new phenomenon in the country, because the bitter lessons learnt from the Ebola epidemic in 2014 has compelled action for a review of the country’s traditional response to complex situations.
He said health approach has further played a vital role in amplifying efforts to face emerging challenges at all fronts and at all levels.
He however noted that such is not achievable without a national OH platform and a public health infrastructure that attends to the needs of workers, customers and communities.
Professor Jaward added that without a sustained investment in public health, the nation’s economic standing could be threatened.
Other participants that include representatives from British High Commission and the American Embassy, after highlighting their contribution to the health sector, pledged their continued support in making sure the country is in a better footing to tackle emerging and remerging diseases.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (04/11/22)
