ADVANCING HUMAN, ANIMAL, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A ONE HEALTH APPROACH IN SIERRA LEONE

Abstract

In the context of population growth, poverty, increased mobility and travel, urbanization, expanding human-animal contact, deforestation, climate change, weak public health systems, armed conflicts, and its geographical location, Sierra Leone is prone to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and non-infectious diseases. The effects of the 1990 to 2001 civil war and Ebola severely weakened the country's fragile healthcare system, which has further been threatened with various outbreaks of highly infectious diseases such as Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters like flooding, August 2017 landslides, and Wellington fuel tanker disasters. Furthermore, the uncontrolled an indiscriminate use of antibiotics for symptomatic treatment of common disease conditions in humans and animals has greatly contributed to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Lessons from the 2013 to 2016 Ebola epidemic fostered significant improvements in Sierra Leone's disease surveillance systems, including the revitalization of a well-structured Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), the introduction of the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP), and the launch of a One Health Platform. This paper discusses opportunities for utility of an integrated multisectoral One Health approach to health system challenges in Sierra Leone. The paper argues that only by fully implementing an integrated and well-coordinated multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and potentially transdisciplinary One Health approach will Sierra Leone and Africa, and indeed humanity, effectively and sustainably prevent and respond to epidemics and achieve global health and food security.