What is a One Health approach?
At the recent Global Health summit organised by Zenith Global Health, global health experts from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the UK came together for collaboration and shared learning on artificial intelligence, digital health, patient-centred care and the intersectionality between climate change and health.
“One Health is a transformative multisectoral approach to improve systems” Dr Sindiswa Mzamo (President, Circle of Global Business Women)
In a panel with other esteemed speakers including Dr Mutshidzi Mulondo, Dr Emmanuel Nsutebu, and Dr Susie Stanway, who discussed climate change’s links to mental health, cancer and sepsis, Amref UK’s Head of Programmes and Strategic Partnerships, Dr Aneesa Ahmed, shared how Amref Health Africa understands the well-established and evidenced link between climate change and health.
A unifying approach
Between 2030 and 2050 there are projected to be an additional 250,000 deaths every year from climate change-related disease (malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea, heat stress). Marginalised and vulnerable groups are the most at risk from these negative impacts. Among them, we know that women and girls will feel the heaviest burden of these impacts, particularly in Africa.
To tackle these challenges, we must adopt an approach which recognises the full picture of the interlinkages between climate change and health. The One Health approach helps to ensure a future where Africa is resilient, adaptive and thriving in the face of climate challenges.
See below for the key highlights.
Climate change and health direct links are established
Increasing temperatures are leading to heat stress; climate change-induced extreme rainfall is causing flooding, which leads to an increase in waterborne diseases; air pollution levels are increasing, causing a rise in chronic pulmonary disease and cancer.
We must also remember the less obvious, or indirect, impacts. The chain effect from these can be catastrophic. This includes rising temperatures leading to a loss of livelihoods, leading to malnutrition, inability to afford health services and treatment, and increasing child, early or forced marriage (CEFM).
Floods can wash away key infrastructure and roads, leading to a lack of access to health facilities. Children miss out on education because they cannot get to school, or the school is damaged or closed.
A One Health approach
Climate change threatens so many parts of human life, solutions cannot be created in isolation to one another. An ‘eco-system’ approach is needed to make substantive and transformative change to protect communities’ health against the threat of climate change.
This means collaborating between party stakeholders and non-governmental actors, and integrating across sectors, viewing food systems, agriculture, development, and human health as integral to climate solutions, alongside discussions around energy production.
Innovation without this multilateral approach will fail to meet the many threats climate change poses.
Amref uses a One Health approach, which integrates knowledge and information about animal, human and environmental health, and how they intersect.
Surveillance and early warning systems are crucial
These systems allow us to collect data with simple mobile phones, led by trained community-based volunteers, on weather and community health. This data is then relayed to local government to feed into county-level and national-level planning systems so that decisions are based on real-time data.
Guyo Gonjaba (pictured right) is one such community volunteer from North Horr, Marsabit County, Kenya. He says: “The world should know that if a camel dies of starvation, then there is no life there.” His community in North Horr has lost thousands of livestock to the drought. His days begin with inspecting small herds of cattle in homes to identify infections. He also collects and reports weather data to local authorities and educates communities to prevent future infections and address environmental issues during community health outreaches.
His work helps to provide early warning of disease outbreaks and extreme weather events, so the community can better prepare and protect themselves.
Capacity building
It is vital to have trained volunteers in communities on the frontline of the climate crisis. They are the experts on their own communities’ contexts, challenges and solutions.
Amref training equips them with the knowledge and skills they need to diagnose suspected infections and provide treatment to people and animals to stop disease spreading.
Advocacy and research
The African voice must be reflected and considered on global platforms such as COP, the World Health Assembly and UN General Assembly. African communities are among those worst impacted by the rapidly intensifying negative impacts of climate change, even though they contribute the least to climate change. Amref is convening these expert and community voices to represent African experiences at these events.
Research into the interlinkages between climate change and health must also be prioritised. This is critical for us to understand any gaps in current health strategies and to provide recommendations to strengthen responses, incorporating relevant technical frameworks eg the World Health Organisation (WHO) climate change framework.
Our One Health work
How we are implementing the One Health approach across two programmes in Kenya and Tanzania.
Kenya
In pastoralist communities in Kenya, this approach recognises the close connection between the health of communities, the animals they herd and their shared environment. The ongoing drought has caused deaths among the community and their livestock, reducing food and income.
Amref supports community health promoters to provide treatment for people and their livestock; One Health units conduct outreaches with health workers, veterinarians, & environment health officers; early warning systems via mobile phones provide real-time updates.
We have eight operational One Health Units which have provided 37,500 preventative services for animals and 98,856 for humans. 13,737 weather data reports and 903 actions have been taken.
Tanzania
In Dar-Es-Salaam, poor solid waste management is causing health risks to the people that live there, and environmental damage. Over 4,252 tonnes of solid waste is produced daily but only 50% is collected and disposed of.
An Amref programme supports women and young people to collect and recycle the solid waste into ‘briquettes’ which are burned in households, creating fewer emissions. The programme also supports the community with promotion of hygiene practices and garbage collection at household level.
The women and young people have seen a 700% increase in their annual revenue. Nearly 1 acre of dense forest has been preserved. Community cases of diarrhoea have been reduced by 11% and cases of cholera have gone from 102 to zero.
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