The One Health concept promotes a collaborative, integrated, systemic approach to public, animal and environmental health, in particular to deal with the development of zoonotic diseases with epidemic potential. In Forest Guinea, the epicentre of the 2015 and 2021 Ebola epidemics, GRET is one of the rare NGOs conducting a project that makes this approach operational at community level. The progress of this project – which started in 2021 – was presented and discussed last February in Conakry, with a broad range of stakeholders in attendance: the national “One Health” platform, which brings together representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock farming, and the Ministry of Health and the Environment, as well as UN agencies and research institutes.
The One Health approach in Guinea
After the Ebola health crisis, Guinea strengthened its system for monitoring diseases carrying epidemic potential and defined a National strategic “One Health” plan, recognising the need for multisector interventions to respond to events that generate risks for public health. At this stage, the priority focus is on strengthening of systems for monitoring of zoonotic diseases, animal vaccination and early detection in wild animals, via research projects and provision of support to the services concerned.
Local governance and real consideration of the environment
Among the One Health initiatives underway in Guinea, the GRET project features specificities that were of particular interest to national stakeholders with whom it met in Conakry, opening up new areas of reflection and action.
Firstly, work was carried out on local governance of healthcare in territories. GRET works individually with households in their communities and helps them to change their agricultural and livestock farming practices. It also supports the creation of inclusive forums of consultation, enabling discussion on the implications of land use with a view to reducing the risks of spreading diseases. GRET is supporting village land management committees to develop and implement community management plans for soil and natural resources, such as forest and waterways.
The participative actions conducted and collective initiatives created favoured greater consideration of issues around environment and ecosystem health. Preoccupations emerged regarding the impacts on biodiversity of widespread use of phytosanitary products, and potential pollution and contamination generated by palm oil extraction and pig farms. This is an important component of the project and is also what makes it singular: environmental issues are generally not extensively considered in One Health projects.
Risk prevention that goes beyond responding to zoonotic diseases
Based on local preoccupations, the project looks more broadly at the interactions between public, animal and environmental health, to implement prevention extending beyond risks generated by zoonotic diseases. This approach is also discussed within communal “One health” platforms. Supported by GRET, these platforms provide real frameworks for consultation that bring together local authorities, stakeholders in the environment, agriculture, livestock farming and healthcare sectors, and community representatives.
The One Health project, implemented by GRET and the Maison guinéenne de l’entrepreneur (MGE), is financed by the Agence française de développement (AFD).
