COHESA Technical Working Group Venturing for โOne Healthโ Integration Into Education and Research
BY MEKONNEN TESHOME
Experts drawn from multiple higher educational and research institutions of Ethiopia as well as the Ministry of Education (MoE) have jointly worked on mechanism to ensure education and research in Ethiopia to follow inter-and trans disciplinary approaches. The team appreciated that disciplinary research and education would make it difficult to solve complex problems of the 21st Century.
The team of technical expertise from human, animal, environmental disciplines and different sectors have been working together as Technical Working Group for One Health in Education and Research working during the last few months.
During the four days deliberations on how to align competencies required to ensure inter-and trans disciplinary approach in education and research and the team has drafted entry points within existing teaching and research portfolio.
The technical teamโs meeting was organized by the School of Public Health of the Addis Ababa University, the Multiplier of the Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA) project. This project is implemented as part of the Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda) and Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe) program.
COHESA is a consortium of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), the French agricultural research and international cooperation organization (CIRAD), ILRI and CGIAR.
“One Health” lacks harmonization
Ethiopiaโs Lead Multiplier of COHESA, Dr. Mirgissa Kaba, told the African Demystifier during the meeting that Ethiopiaโs education and research remains disciplinary where trainees as well as trainers on the one hand and researchers on the other hand failed to join hands to solve problems in its totality. The problem has multiple faces that disciplinary approach would only help to understand and or solve just an element of the problem that problem remains to linger.ย
Dr. Mirgissa says: โThe global dynamics of problem is now intertwined where problems have environmental, human and animal dimensions. Addressing such problems calls for interdisciplinary approaches where disciplines could work together with proper understanding of their respective roles as well as in understanding and addressing the problem. This could benefit more when the concerned community and stakeholders contribute to such collaborated process. Thus, ensuring ecosystem health where the wellbeing of the animal, human and environment calls for improvement of competencies of educators and researchersโ.
One Health is a transdisciplinary and multi-sectoral collaborative approach to human, animal, plant and environmental wellbeing that calls for capacitating multiple disciplines and multiple stakeholders. This requires consistent effort of advocacy and capacity building to realize alignment of One Health Competencies across disciplines, Dr. Mirgissa underscores.
Therefore, he said, with the support from COHESA, disciplinary teams from multiple universities and sectors are working on charting modalities to integrate key competencies for Inter-and Trans disciplinary teaching and research in Ethiopia.
Inter Disciplinary Approach In Higher Education
Ecology and Environmental Health Professor, Seid Tiku Mereta (PhD) from the School of Environmental Health of the Jimma University, and who is also the Director of the Center for One Health Research, Training and Outreach pointed out that the small sub team working on higher education has mapped existing experiences, opportunities, gaps and defined entry points for One Health competencies. Nonetheless, he noted that this is a work in progress.
According to Professor Seid, concepts of OH has been around in some universities that could be further consolidated while alignment could be sought in specific courses at undergraduate and post graduate courses of human, environmental and veterinary educational as well field attachment programs.
Following the development of required tools validation of this initiative will be made in order to roll out the alignment followed by training of course facilitators as well as field coordinators.
“One Health” and Research
Assoc Prof. Birhanu Hadush (Ph.D.) from College of Veterinary Sciences of the Mekelle University, on his part emphasized that research funded by the universities and research institutions remain isolated, siloed and not set to solve problem. Within the same universities, disciplines do not tend to work together to define problems, identify problems and contribute to the same problem based on their respective disciplinary glass.
Universities and research institutions have research funding although there is gross failure to ensure funding as an opportunity to bring disciplines to join hands on jointly defined problems. Similarly, he noted that research governance and regulatory body failed to appreciate such inter and transdisciplinary of research which discourage researchers to join hands.
In view of this the sub theme on research has defined lack of well-defined One Health research framework that could help researchers and funding institutions to consider. This is simple to tweak and improve research undertaking and results. Different funding opportunities within research and academic institutions could have a tool to ensure funding to meet specific One Health principles. Similarly, improvement of the SoPs of IRB to accommodate inter and trans disciplinarity could help the research process and outcome to be valuable.
The research sub team has reviewed existing documents and customize global experiences to local context to develop guidance for both research governance and regularity within the universities and research institutions.
“One Health” In Secondary Education
Ministry of Education Curriculum development experts, Berhanu Tesfaye and Esubalew Wondimu pointed out that although not referred to as One Health, several elements of One Health competencies are accommodated in to new curriculum and co-curriculum of the of the Ministry of Education. Yet, both noted that connecting the dots in the spirit of One Health could be easily managed.
General Manager of the Ethiopian Veterinary Association Dr. Yilkal Kebede also indicated that sub team is working on connecting the dots of existing opportunities to align One Health competencies in schools. He indicated that this is the level where new ambassadors of One Health and future advocates and practitioners of inter and trans disciplinary educators and researchers are developed. The sub team is working to integrate One Health competencies in secondary schoolsโ co-curricular activities as a pilot program. Efforts are said to be made to align the pilots with universities that have taken up to integrate the One Health competencies.
Existing school level club guideline, Ethiopian Education Development Roadmap, Guidelines for the Development and Management of Wildlife Clubs in Africa and the Safe Schools Program Ethiopia Assessment Report are considered as opportunities as entry points for co-curricular plans while such courses as Biology, Agriculture, Citizenship Education and Languages are areas with some element of One Health for refinement as stated by experts from the MoE.
The team recognizes a well-structured advocacy and awareness creation for the education sector including policy makers. On the other hand, following the validation of the guidelines that is underdevelopment, capacity building of school teachers and directors will help to roll out the initiative.
Ethiopia is undertaking various activities for the integration of One Health competencies in to education and research. The Technical Working Group on this theme is believed to serve as advocates in this area within the education sector, universities and research institutions.
The working groupโs review meeting is the continuation of the two-day Net-Mapping exercise activity which was held in Hawassa city in August 2023 and attended by a bigger group of multi-sectoral stakeholders drawn from the health, educational, wildlife, environmental and other sectors.
One Health approach is a growing global strategy that is being adopted by health organizations and policy makers in response to health care needs and Ethiopia has already embraced the idea.
According to COHESA, threats to animal, human, plant and environment health, many of which occur at the interface of these health domains, will be addressed by looking at food systems and ecosystems through the integrated approach of One Health (OH) Outbound .
It says that the operational capacities of a wide array of public and private OH stakeholders will be strengthened in the design and implementation of state-of-the-art research and innovation (R&I) activities and OH policies. Combined with a social-ecological system (SES) framework that will explicitly link health and ecosystem management with resili