OneHealthTalk.org

Join the collaborative exchange

OneHealthTalk.org is a virtual dialogue on One Health.

Dialogue is a two-way process, where all parties involved have the opportunity to contribute and learn. Through dialogue, we can gain new energy and insights into the One Health approach and its many applications.

OneHealthTalk is an experiment in collaborative exchange. While the website has been developed by the University of Minnesota (UMN) in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the dialogue belongs to the One Health community. Many individuals and groups are implementing the One Health approach, and all can benefit from sharing experiences, ideas and knowledge.

OneHealthTalk is one part of the ongoing process of implementing One Health Globally. This process began with discussions led by visionaries years ago, and was given new life thanks to insights gained in combating widespread outbreaks of zoonotic disease, and especially H5N1 influenza in recent decades. The process has involved many players and activities around the globe, from Manhattan to Melbourne and Mexico, from Sharm el Sheikh to Stone Mountain, not to forget Addis, Ababa, Bellagio, Dhaka, Hanoi, Salzburg, Winnipeg and others.

OneHealthTalk.org hosts monthly discussions on topics selected by the online community.

To join the conversation, go to OneHealthTalk.org. Select E-discussions under the Collaborate tab. Here you can view the conversation .  To contribute to the conversation you will need to register. Click on ‘Sign-up’ on the right hand side of the page to register.

Let’s Talk

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Feb 2013 – A One Health case study of Ebola in Uganda

Outbreak Scenario:

On 7 November, 2012, a cluster of cases of acute febrile illness in one family was reported to the District Health Office which in turn notified the Ministry of Health, Blood samples were collected and delivered to the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe. The specimens tested positive for Ebola virus and an outbreak was declared on 14 November, 2012. An outbreak investigation team was assembled with representatives from various disciplines and sectors.

Please view the  PowerPoint presentation for details on the outbreak scenario.

Discussion Questions for Week 1:
Who would you notify first?
How would you initiate the outbreak investigation?
Who should be on field investigation team, and how would you advocate and influence?
How should the team be funded?
What is the chain of command to be followed?
What technical expertise would you need to assist you?

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Jan 2013 – Flooding Response: A One Health approach

Catastrophic floods are a disaster that affects people, animals and the environment worldwide.
Floods have many causes including, tropical storms, tsunamis, heavy rains and snow melt. Floods are part of the natural cycle. Flooding rivers can distribute water and suspended sediment over land, replenishing valuable nutrients in topsoil, benefiting agricultural use. Problems occur when flooding occurs in areas of large-scale human development of the landscape.

There are examples of a One Health approach being utilized in the response to extreme flooding events. This month the discussion focuses on flooding response to an extreme flooding situation in Thailand.

Discussion question:

In your opinion what are the consequences of flooding, during and after this situation? (on people, animals, environment, etc.) Kindly share your experiences and insight.

The final report of the discussion will become downloadable from the One Health Talk website.

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Dec 2012 – One Health Capacity Building: Successes and Challenges

 

Building capacity for managing and addressing complex challenges across disciplines and sectors requires new kinds of programs and training strategies. Please review the capacity building cases presented on this site and/or share other models with which you are familiar.

 

 

Discussion questions:

1. What do existing One Health capacity building strategies have in common?
2. What strategies seem to be working (or what best practices are emerging)?
3. Where are challenges emerging and how are they being resolved?
4. Are there gaps in approaches that could be addressed in new ways?
5. What is missing in these examples?

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

 

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Nov 2012 – Brucellosis in Uganda

Please review the following short powerpoint presentation about Brucellosis outbreak investigations in Uganda:  /1/assets/File/BRUCELLOSIS_OUTBREAK final.pdf

Discussion questions:

• What are the challenges of reporting cases of Brucellosis in veterinary and human sectors in Uganda or other areas? Please share your experiences.
• What are the implications of false negatives and positives of this disease?

Oct 2012  -Inter-professional Education (IPE) and One Health

Discussion Questions:

• How can Public Health, Veterinary Medicine, and other One Health disciplines that focus beyond or outside the individual human patient setting contribute to the growing IPE movement?
• What are the authentic, real-life settings in which students from Public Health and Veterinary Medicine can learn and practice One Health competencies?
• How does the current definition for IPE contribute to improvement of health populations, the third leg of the Triple Aim stool?
• What are your thoughts on the similarities and differences between the IPE core competencies and the One Health core competencies?

Background: The definition of interprofessional education (IPE) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education& Collaborative Practice) states that
“Interprofessional education occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.”
The core competencies of interprofessional collaborative practice are defined as
1) value/ethics,
2) roles and responsibilities,
3) interprofessional communication,
4) teams and teamwork.

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

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Sep 2012  - Rabies – a One Health model disease?

Discussion Question:

Recently, rabies is gaining more attention in developing countries. In your opinion what are the reasons for this increased attention? (Increasing animal/human cases, improved surveillance, changes in habitats, availability of food sources, etc.) Kindly share your experiences and insight.

Background: One Health was developed further after the highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) outbreaks occurred on more than three continents. The response to the H5N1 outbreaks offered an opportunity for One Health to build on lessons learned and to develop more effective frameworks for primary response efforts to emerging zoonotic and high impact diseases. However, rabies, an often endemic and neglected zoonotic disease is currently being mentioned as the “One Health model disease”. Especially in developing and in-transition countries rabies remains highly under-reported in animals as well as in humans but estimates suggest that 55,000-77,000 humans die of rabies each year. The majority of these deaths occur in Asia and Africa as a result of dog bites. In order for countries to effectively reduce the burden of rabies multi-agency collaboration is key.

The final report of the discussion will become available on the One Health Talk website.

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Aug 2012  - One Health Talk as a discussion forum

Discussion Questions:

• How would you like to see One Health Talk used as a discussion forum on One Health issues?
• How can discussions be further encouraged and facilitated?
• What other ideas do you have regarding One Health Talk?

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

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June / July  2012 – University Partnerships & Global One Health Development

There is a potential for University collaborations and partnerships to contribute to and promote global health utilizing a One Health approach. This month’s topic focused on the successes and challenges of cross-disciplinary, cross-sector and cross-border partnerships when addressing complex global health issues.

Discussion Questions

• What role can and do universities play in promoting global health?
• How is your university engaging with governments, communities, the private sector, and other universities to promote One Health?
• How are universities collaborating across the different One Health disciplines?
• What are some examples or characteristics of successful One Health partnerships and cross-disciplinary collaborations?
• What are some challenges to creating One Health partnerships and collaborations?

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

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May 2012 – Operationalizing One Health Core Competencies

The Stone Mountain Meeting (SMM) Training Workgroup has developed a list of One Health Core Competencies based on the proficiency level of the One Health practitioner. The May One Health Talk topic focused on discussion of the identified levels of One Health practitioners and the drafted list of One Health Core Competencies for each level.

The discussion addressed the following questions:

Please look at each of the identified proficiency levels for a One Health practitioner and tell us if they are appropriate and if not how can we improve them? Do you agree with the defined competences at each level, and if not please tell us why.

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

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April 2012  - Developing Risk Communication Skills

 

In our complex multi-disciplinary global environment it is important to be able to communicate complex technical information to non-technical audiences. Our topic for April will explore the importance of risk communication-core capacity needed to respond to disease outbreaks. We invite all of you to participate in a practical applied exercise to share your experience and help further develop your risk communication skills, using the ProMed-Mail report on Nodding Disease in Northern Uganda as a current events example (see The One Health Talk Website for this report).

 

The discussion will address the following questions:

What are the three most important points of information from the article  (what we might call ‘key messages’)? – and then discuss what you would do differently if you were writing an article about this topic.

Think about the article and the three most important points you captured identified in the article. Describe to us - If you were writing an article, or being interviewed for a similar article, radio or TV show, what would be the three key messages you would want to share with your audience?  Who would be your primary target audience? What do you think are the most important points of information for your audience to know?  What would your audience think is most important to know?  What is your audience most likely to get wrong, or miss-understand, unless you repeat and reinforce it?

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

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March 2012  - Development of Global One Health Core Competencies

Identifying global core competencies needed by ALL members of the One Health workforce, irrespective of their specific discipline, would result in increased collaboration leading to more effective prevention, detection, and response to emerging pandemic threats. We invite your comments on a preliminary summary of One Health Global Core Competencies being assembled by a team of scientists and practitioners in conjunction with the Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) program of USAID.

The discussion will address the following questions:

• Methods:  We have used literature reviews, structured interviews of One Health experts, and will use surveys to identify and validate OHGCC. Are there other methods that you know about or have used that could help identify or evaluate OHGCC?
• Literature:  Are there literature sources that you would suggest as we expand the literature review outlined in the draft report?
• People:  How can we further engage the One Health global community? Are there groups that should be engaged by this process that are not currently represented in our initial literature review and interviews as described on pages 2 and 3 of the attached report?

In addition to this discussion if you would like to provide comments on the OHGCC draft report, please view by clicking on the introductory letter and draft report.

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

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February 2012 – Coordination across all Sectors for One Health Actions: Sharing Our Experiences

Communicating, and cooperating across multiple sectors is certainly not an easy task, as this requires coordination within and across government offices as well as professional and academic disciplines. One Health involves NGOs and health workers, farmers, civil society and municipalities, and much more.

The discussion addressed the following question:

• What have been your observations and experiences- both positive and negative- on coordination across sectors for One Health actions?

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

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January 2012 – Health Risks at the Human-Animal-Ecosystems Interfaces

 

The first One Health Talk contributed to the discussions started at the High Level Technical Meeting:

“Health Risks at the Human-Animal-Ecosystems Interfaces” in Mexico November 15-17

The discussion addressed the following questions:

1. One health is many things; what is the added value in one health action from your perspective?
2. What would you like to see happen in one health action for this new year?

The final report of the discussion can be downloaded from the One Health Talk website.

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