title: One Health: Lessons Learned from East Africa.
abstract: Africa is faced with many of the most daunting challenges of our time. It comprises roughly 15% of the world's human population, and most of its countries are perpetually ranked "Low" on the United Nations' Human Development Index. On the other hand, Africa has arguably the largest proportion of intact natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and sociocultural capital and the lowest impact on global warming of any continent. Thus, African leaders are faced with competing demands and values among a multitude of complex issues, such as high human population growth, extreme poverty, food insecurity, land use policy, climate change, and biodiversity conservation. In this context, building sustainable national systems for human and/or animal health is one of the grand challenges of this generation. Today's complex global health and development challenges require long-term commitment and a range of approaches that are too broad for any one discipline, institution, or country to implement on its own. The One Health concept recognizes the interconnectedness of global health issues and, as such, promotes the importance of and need for international, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral communication and collaboration at local, national, and international levels. By taking advantage of natural cultural tendencies for shared leadership, resource allocation, and community values, African leaders are currently proactively demonstrating the principles of One Health, and thus becoming a model for this global vision. And by focusing on partnerships rather than donor-recipient relationships, they are fostering the development of shared priorities and are increasingly driving their own health agenda to fulfill their own needs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: Dominic A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Travis
authors.affiliation: Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: Meggan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Craft
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deen
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: MacDonald W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Farnham
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Hueston
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology & Infectious Diseases, The Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kock
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahero
authors.affiliation: Department of Wildlife and Resource Management, Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mugisha
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nzietchueng
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, North Grafton, MA 01536.
authors.forename: Felicia B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Nutter
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pekol
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: Katharine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Pelican
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55108.
authors.forename: Innocent B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Rwego
mesh_terms: D000351:Africa, Eastern; D000818:Animals; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006268:Health Facilities; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication