A One Health approach to epidemics
The latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda is a stark reminder of the devastating impacts of epidemics and the need for a coordinated response.
One Health approach to epidemics recognises that the health of people, animals, and the environment is interconnected. It requires cross-sectoral collaboration to combat infectious diseases that spread between animals and humans and are shaped by environmental change.
Over the past year and a half, I worked with researchers from across Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America who’ve been investigating the drivers of epidemics and co-developing locally-relevant solutions with affected communities.
This work was part of the IDRC-funded Collaborative One Health Research Initiative on Epidemics(COHRIE).
One of the key outputs is a special issue of the One Health journal, with papers showcasing the excellent work from the four COHRIE projects.
I provided pre-submission editorial reviews of the manuscripts and facilitated a collaborative writing process, bringing researchers from each project together to co-author cross-project articles: one on gender and another on community participation in One Health.
The first three papers are now out in the One Health journal (with more to come):
As a science communicator, it's always rewarding to collaborate so closely with research teams who are out there making a difference and tackling these complex issues.
Congrats to all on the publications, and watch this space for more!
Need a science communications specialist to support your research team with knowledge synthesis, writing, or facilitation? Get in touch to see how Human Element Communications can help.
Brendon Bosworth is a communications specialist and science communication trainer. He is the principal consultant at Human Element Communications.
