Network for Evaluation of One Health
Network for Evaluation of One Health

Other dissemination and engagement activities
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Simon Rüegg

Fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14),  Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 17 – 29 November 2018.

Details of the meeting can be found here.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with diverse partners working at the interface of health and biodiversity, organised the panel session “Health Day” on the eighth day of the Rio Conventions Pavilion, under the overall theme of ‘Harnessing Biodiversity for a Healthy and Resilient Future’.

The discussions aimed to take an in-depth look at emerging initiatives, partnerships, tools and opportunities for engagement to support the mainstreaming of biodiversity for health with a focus on integrated approaches to health in an effort to maximize ecosystem and human health co-benefits.

Simon described the network’s evaluation approach, noting it aims to integrate knowledge in a transdisciplinary way by exploring both negative and positive unexpected outcomes that can be attributed to integrated systems. He further noted that One Health complements CBD guidance with concrete indicators for social resilience, ecosystem health and economic benefits. Rüegg underscored the strong link between physical and mental health, noting that this makes the holistic approach promoted by One Health of noteworthy benefit for policymakers.

Details from the Health Day can be found here.

Liza Rosenbaum Nielsen and Simon Rüegg

15th International Symposium for Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE15)

Simon Ruegg explains his poster and shows the NEOH handbook to a delegate

Liza and Simon participated with several other NEOH consortium members at ISVEE15 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 12-16 November 2018 to disseminate and discuss the new NEOH framework and tools, as well as to promote the handbook to interested individuals and organisations. They handed over a hard copy of the handbook to the keynote speakers: Chair Professor of One Health, Dirk Pheiffer from City University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, HongKong, Dr. Wantanee Kalpravidh, Regional Manager for the Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Disease for Asia and the Pacific (FAO) in Bangkok, Dr. Matthew Stone, Deputy Director General from the OIE, and Professor Katharina Stärk, Director for Science and Quality at SAFOSO in Switzerland and upcoming vice-CVO for the Swiss Federal Government.

Many of the delegates showed good interest in the work of NEOH and many asked, what would be the next steps for NEOH, so the idea to organise training sessions and workshops on the evaluation methodology throughout the world was also promoted at the meeting as well as the continuation of NEOH as the European Chapter of EcoHealth International.

See a copy of Simon Rüegg’s poster: Network for Evaluation of One Health (NEOH): A systems approach for better knowledge integration.

And Liza Rosenbaum Nielson’s abstract: Application of a new One Health evaluation framework to two research initiatives addressing antimicrobial resistance and obesity

Sara Savic

One Health Day October 2018 Serbia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEOH MC member and WG2 leader Dr Sara Savic and colleagues organised a One Health Day event in Serbia on the 31st of October 2018, attended by 56 participants. It was the first time that a One Health Day event of this type took place in Serbia. The main topics were zoonoses and vector borne diseases and how different public services can collaborate since there is no government institution for One Health in Serbia. The day was stimulating and successful, as human medics, veterinarians and biologists working in Public Health organisations interacted, shared their experiences and proposed future possibilities on how to work together. It was also agreed to form an association of One Health in Serbia which would be a major step towards raising awareness, collaboration and exchange and implementation of One Health in the country.

 

Julie Garnier

The Planetary Health Meeting May 2018 Edinburgh

The Planetary Health meeting that took place in Edinburgh in May was another opportunity to recognize the need to adopt an integrated approach such as OH, EcoH or PH for addressing the health crisis that is affecting and threatening humanity. Of particular interest was the presence of cultural and spiritual leaders such such as an elder from a First Nation tribe in Canada  or the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Together with a humanist tone given throughout the conference, these perspectives highlighted  the sense of responsibility that all citizens (incl. scientists!) should feel and the urgent change that is needed in order to also address increasing social inequalities.

 

Simon Ruegg

International One Health Conference June 2018

 WG1 leader Simon Rüegg was supported by NEOH to attend the 5th international One Health Congress in Saskatoon, Canada, June 2018. Next to some plenary session primarily oriented at vaccination, infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one track was dedicated to the science policy interface and one to the problematic of AMR. Two tracks were conducted under the heading of “One Health Science” comprising sessions on drivers of emerging diseases, pathogen detection, diagnostics, response to epidemics, social science and politics, and vaccines. Simon presented the NEOH index and the results of the case studies in the session on social science and politics. His talk caused great resonance among various people working in different institutions who expressed an interest to learn more about the NEOH work and products. Barry McMahon, an active WG1 member and lead author of the handbook Chapter 5, took the opportunity when presenting on ecosystem change and disease emergence to advertise the NEOH final conference and the handbook in a different context. During the networking opportunities throughout the conference the handbook could be presented to the US Threat Reduction Agency, the American Association of Veterinary Colleges, and the Joint External Evaluation Alliance. Several existing One Health initiatives inquired on how to apply the framework in their specific context.

In conclusion, the IOHC was a good opportunity to promote the work of NEOH in the Western hemisphere and to learn about latest developments in certain areas of One Health. Because neither non-communicable diseases, social or environmental determinants of health, urbanisation nor aspects of structural One Health were covered in this “One Health” conference, Simon, Barry and other attending NEOH members could not network with people working in these fields. Unfortunately, the Asian, African and South-American continents were severely underrepresented thereby further missing opportunities to connect to colleagues in these parts of the world.

 

 

Vlatko Ilieski

iCOMOS conference April 2018 “Science and Policy at the Interface of Environment, Agriculture, and Medicine”

In order to promote collaboration between NEOH consortium members and stakeholders from existing international institutions Prof Vlatko Ilieski participated in iCOMOS 2018 conference “Science and Policy at the Interface of Environment, Agriculture, and Medicine”, which was held from 29th April till 02 th May 2018, at Minnesota University, USA https://ccaps.umn.edu/icomos-2018

The main aim of the conference was to explore new ways to solve pressing health issues, facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations, and promote science’s role in influencing public policy at the interface of humans, animals, and the environment. At the conference five interactive sessions were organized:

  1. One Medicine One Science Approaches to Health at Two NIH Institutes
  2. Effective Policy when Consumer Preferences Do Not Match Actions
  3. Breaking Silos and Building Bridges Within and Across Geographies
  4. Precision Medicine and Genome Editing: Science and Ethics
  5. Science Communication and Strategic Engagement of Policy Makers

In session Science Communication and strategic engagement of policy maker Prof Ilieski had a poster presentation “Evaluation of one health initiatives – tool to support policy instruments”. Besides poster presentations, informational session for evaluation of one health initiatives were organized. On this session Prof Ilieski gave a presentation of COST Action “Network for Evaluation of One Health” (NEOH) with special attention on developed handbook and practical information of methods for evaluation. Representatives of several institutions show their interest for further collaboration in applying One Health evaluation protocol especially it’s guidelines how, when and where to evaluate one health initiatives.

Download poster

Download presentation

NEOH announcement

 

 

 

Daniele De Meneghi

COST COREMI Workshop March 2018

ONE HEALTH OVERVIEW OF PRM INFESTATION AND TREATMENT – INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

Daniele De Meneghi participated in the workshop held at the faculty of veterinary Medicine, Skopje on the 27th March 2018. As the NEOH representative he gave an overview of the groups activities and presented the NEOH evaluation framework.

A full copy of the workshop report can be seen here.

 

Martin Hitziger, Simon Rüegg and John Berezowski

One Health Surveillance Workshop, December 2016

On Tuesday, 6th December 2016, Martin Hitziger, Simon Rüegg and John Berezowski contributed to a workshop on One Health Surveillance at the Society for Disease Surveillance’s (ISDS) annual conference in Atlanta (US), which was a crucial first step in building a solid collaboration between ISDS and NEOH.

The workshop was led by John Berezowski. The morning comprised talks on statistical techniques of integrating and analyzing complex data sets, the afternoon was specifically dedicated to soft aspects. Victor del Rio, current head of ISDS’s One health working group introduced Multi-Criteria Decision Methods. NEOH affiliate member, Tracy Dutcher conducted a workshop on the OH SMART tool for analyzing intersectoral organizational notification pathways in disease surveillance.

Simon Ruegg presented the NEOH network, with a specific focus on the One-Health-Index. Martin Hitziger suggested potential contributions of transdisciplinary research to OH disease surveillance. Both also presented the project on “Evaluating One Health initiatives – principles, criteria and indicators” recently granted by the Swiss Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation. This project is conducted in collaboration with the ISDS and will apply the NEOH framework to case studies from ISDS members. Simon Ruegg and Martin Hitziger will mainly work in this project, but cooperation with ISDS case study representatives is crucial for the validation approach.

Therefore, this workshop had several positive outcomes for NEOH. The network, its objectives, approaches and its advances in producing the OH Evaluation handbook were extensively presented to the ISDS by several important NEOH members. Awareness for complex outbreak notification pathways in several disease scenarios was raised through Tracey Dutchers workshop on OH SMART. This did in turn open the eyes of some participants for the importance of intersectorial OH-collaboration. Furthermore, the new project, which will apply and advance NEOH’s evaluation approaches by applying them to case studies from ISDS was presented and met with considerable interest. Around 20 workshop participants signed up on a contact list for potential case study collaborators. The workshop is therefore seen as a successful milestone, marking the collaboration of NEOH and ISDS. It led the basis to disseminate NEOH’s approaches to a global audience in disease surveillance, and to further develop OH evaluation methods through case studies in various countries.

Download Presentation

 

Marilena Filippitzi

Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists July 2016

Marilena Filippitzi presenting

An oral presentation was given by Marilena Filippitzi on behalf of the Network for Evaluation of One Health (NEOH) at the Science Week of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists ANZCVS)

The presentation was entitled “Network for Evaluation of One Health (NEOH) (EU COST Action TD1404): Developing a standardized methodology to evaluate One Health activities and enhancing the evidence base on the added value of interdisciplinary collaboration”. The respective abstract was co-authored by Helen O’ Shea, Daniele De Meneghi and Barbara Häsler.

The conference was held in Gold Coast, Australia from 07 to 09 July 2016. The Science Week is a highly successful three-day scientific meeting and is a fantastic opportunity to attend cutting-edge presentations covering a wide range of disciplines.

 

Barbara Häsler, Simon Ruegg, and Massimo Canali

The 3rd GFR One Health Summit in Davos, Oct 2015

Massimo Canali presenting

On 4th – 6th October 2015, 232 researchers, policy makers and practitioners, from 53 developed and developing countries and working in the areas of public health, veterinary medicine, agriculture, biodiversity, ecosystem services, sustainable development and natural capital, attended the 3rd One health Summit of the Global Risk Forum (GFR) in Davos. GFR is a well-known foundation, based in this Swiss town, devoted to promote the worldwide exchange of know-how in integrative risk management and climate change adaptation. With a mix of formats, including keynote lectures, plenary and parallel sessions, the One Health Summit provided this year a valuable forum for dialogue and a strategic platform to foster the sharing of information and viewpoints.

The NEOH was represented at the event by Barbara Häsler (RVC – NEOH Coordinator), Simon Ruegg (University of Zurich), and Massimo Canali (University of Bologna). NEOH factsheets were distributed and people encouraged to join the network. Massimo Canali delivered a presentation prepared with Maurizio Aragrande (University of Bologna) on “An Operational Tool to Enhance One Health Interdisciplinarity”. The presentation was an individual contribution within the NEOH framework, focusing on key issues, such as system approach and interdisciplinarity, discussed at the NEOH Training School of Cluj-Napoca last June.

The authors, Massimo Canali and Maurizio Aragrande, have developed a multi-disciplinary matrix to manage the scientific complexity of health care issues. Complexity is challenged by a systemic approach, based on the combination of simple epidemiological and socio-economic models, in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of real situations and case studies. The matrix is intended to find out the multiple aspects and effects of a health intervention and identify all necessary expertise. The aim is to define the scientific and cultural borders among disciplines, the grey areas where knowledge is lacking, and the overlapping territories where analytical competences are redundant and/or cooperative. This procedure intends to be a pivotal tool to coordinate different disciplinary skills and increase effectiveness in health research, policy and management.

Proceedings, outcome report and more details are available here