One Health Systems Assessments for Sustainable Capacity Strengthening to Control Priority Zoonotic Diseases Within and Between Countries.

Abstract

One Health is increasingly recognized as an important approach for health systems, particularly with respect to strengthening prevention, detection and response to zoonotic and other emerging disease threats. While many global health security frameworks reference the importance of One Health, there are fewer existing methodologies, tools, and resources for supporting countries and other regional or sub-national authorities in systematically assessing their One Health capabilities. We describe here two methodologies, One Health Systems Assessment for Priority Zoonoses (OHSAPZ) and One Health Transboundary Assessment for Priority Zoonoses (OHTAPZ), which have been developed to assist with creating consensus lists of priority zoonotic diseases for cross-sectoral consideration; identification of current strengths and gaps in One Health communication and coordination between sectors (and, in the case of OHTAPZ, between countries); and the development and dissemination of prioritized recommendations for future capacity strengthening. Implemented to date in seven diverse countries in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean regions, these tools provide a modular, flexible and easily adaptable approach to One Health systems assessment that can support national capacity strengthening, regional epidemic preparedness, and compliance with international frameworks.