UGANDA | ONE HEALTH | EU | DONATION

Uganda is among the 11 beneficiary African countries of One Health, a multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral collaborative approach to human, animal, plant, and environmental health.

The European Union and its partners have injected 10 million Euros (about 41 billion Ugandan shillings) into the approach.

The funding is to help facilitate the uptake, adaptation, and adoption of solutions to issues that can be addressed by One Health.

Participants posing for a photo during the meeting in Kampala.

The funds will be given through the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners.

This will be done under a four-year project dubbed Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA), which will be implemented among the beneficiary countries.

The countries involved in the project are Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, and Botswana.

Uganda is benefitting through Makerere University under the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources, and Biosecurity.

Theo Knight-Jones from the ILRI told a mid-week workshop at Makerere University that challenges such as emerging infectious diseases and food safety need to be addressed by the approach.

He said that within COHESA, they are pushing for collaborations among departments. For instance, medical people work better with animal and livestock experts.

Knight-Jones said Uganda can ably guide and help neighboring countries to develop One Health platforms to enhance the best approach for cross-border challenges, including the spread of disease.

Prof.Majalija speaking during the stake holders meeting in Kampala.

Prof. Clovice Kankya is Uganda's coordinator for COHESA at Makerere University.

“We intend to promote COHESA activities to further strengthen the One Health approach in Uganda from low to high-level stakeholders, and review and validate the findings from our baseline studies, among others.

“We are trying to discuss how to drive issues and challenges affecting the One Health approach, especially in humans, livestock, and the environment," said Kankya.

Zoonotic diseases and anti-microbial resistance are among the problems faced in the region.

 Gerald Den Oliden is the head of research and innovation at the Inter-governmental Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States based in Brussels, Belgium.

He said they have been working with the EU to try and get some solutions in the sustainable development areas through research and innovation.

Oliden said they have a portfolio of 54 million Euros under innovations which they have spent on eight projects in Africa, with COHESA being one of them.