Emerging Threats Program

Why One Health in the Africa Region? Dr. Dennis Carroll Director, Emerging Threats U.S. Agency for International Development Libreville, Gabon November 2012

Emerging Threats Program Four “take home” messages 1.We live during an extraordinary period of human history – characterized by an unprecedented increase in the emergence of new health threats that span human health, animal health and the health of the environment 2.Underlying this “new dynamic” of shared risk are five key “drivers” that converge at the “human-animal-ecosystem” interface 3.To meet this challenge we need to recognize that the “solutions” do not sit in individual sectors; rather, the “solutions” are found in forging new One Health alliances that span the “human-animal-ecosystem” sectors 4.We need to re-imagine the “core capacities” required across sectors to meet this challenge

Emerging Threats Program Population Pressures 7 billion and counting Changing Habitats Climate Change Food Security Search for arable land; Trade in bush meat Economic Growth Expanding extractive industry; Increased demand for animal protein Globalization “it’s not local anymore” The “Drivers” Behind these New Threats Threat emergence is closely linked to factors that intensify animal- human interactions

Emerging Threats Program Animal Amplification The “ecology” of disease emergence ….. at the “animal-human-ecosystem” interface” CASESCASES TIME SPILL OVER Humans Wild Animals Domestic Animals SPILL OVER

Emerging Threats Program Animal Amplification CASESCASES TIME SPILL OVER Antimicrobial Resistance Hepatitis B One Health – Four Examples SIV/HIV Ebola Marburg SPILL OVER Rabies

Emerging Threats Program Challenges to Forging One Health Alliances 1.Institutional - clustering of sectoral expertise in different organizational units 2.Strategic - each unit has distinct mandates and responsibilities 3.Operational – funding and human resource streams are sector specific 4.Policy – there are few examples of policy frameworks that encourage/enable cross-sectoral collaboration 5.Technical – emphasis is on professional specialties as opposed to a broader understanding and vision of OH

Emerging Threats Program What Does a One Health Approach Enable? 1.A strategic recognition of the connection between human, animal and environmental health 2.A more efficient alignment of limited human, financial and material resources 3.The opportunity to build systems that enable not just earlier detection of emerging threats to human, animal and environmental health but to mobilize interventions to mitigate their potential emergence and spread.

Emerging Threats Program Four “take home” messages 1.We live during an extraordinary period of human history – characterized by an unprecedented increase in the emergence of new health threats that span human health, animal health and the health of the environment 2.Underlying this “new dynamic” of shared risk are five key “drivers” that converge at the “human-animal-ecosystem” interface 3.To meet this challenge we need to recognize that the “solutions” do not sit in individual sectors; rather, the “solutions” are found in forging new One Health alliances that span the “human-animal-ecosystem” sectors 4.We need to re-imagine the “core capacities” required across sectors to meet this challenge