The health of humans and animals is vitally interlinked. Thus, there is a shared responsibility and synergic potential for collaboration between public and animal health sectors to deal with potential infectious threats at the animal-human interface.
And so, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (Oie) joined forces to help countries in developing their capacities at the human-animal interface and to improve their multisectoral coordination that prevent, detect, and control zoonotic diseases.
A three-day National Bridging Workshop kicked off November 20, 2019, with Belize Ministry of Health, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA), WHO, and Oie along with other human and animal health stakeholders. The workshop aimed at strengthening the connections that better align the capacity building approach and strategies between human and animal health as well as developing joint planning to improve collaboration.
The workshop included dynamic and interactive group exercises with a gamified approach and user-friendly materials which enabled the identification of synergies and the review of gaps in the management of infectious emergencies that request coordination between the human and animal health sectors. Fictitious scenarios of natural emergence and accidental or deliberate release of dangerous zoonotic pathogens were used to assess the level of collaboration between the two sectors. The stakeholders then develop a joint roadmap of very pragmatic and operational activities to implement in order to fill the gaps and strengthen their collaboration.
Also, in attendance were the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), Belize Medical Associates (BMA), Belize Police Department, Belize Customs & Excise, University of Belize (UB), and Health Education and Community Participation Bureau (HECOPAB).
