title: One Health research and training and government support for One Health in South Asia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Considerable advocacy, funding, training, and technical support have been provided to South Asian countries to strengthen One Health (OH) collaborative approaches for controlling diseases with global human pandemic potential since the early 2000s. It is essential that the OH approach continues to be strengthened given South Asia is a hot spot for emerging and endemic zoonotic diseases. The objectives of this article are to describe OH research and training and capacity building activities and the important developments in government support for OH in these countries to identify current achievements and gaps.
  
  
  METHODS
  A landscape analysis of OH research, training, and government support in South Asia was generated by searching peer-reviewed and grey literature for OH research publications and reports, a questionnaire survey of people potentially engaged in OH research in South Asia and the authors' professional networks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only a small proportion of zoonotic disease research conducted in South Asia can be described as truly OH, with a significant lack of OH policy-relevant research. A small number of multisectoral OH research and OH capacity building programmes were conducted in the region. The governments of Bangladesh and Bhutan have established operational OH strategies, with variable progress institutionalising OH in other countries. Identified gaps were a lack of useful scientific information and of a collaborative culture for formulating and implementing integrated zoonotic disease control policies and the need for ongoing support for transdisciplinary OH research and policy-relevant capacity building programmes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall we found a very small number of truly OH research and capacity building programmes in South Asia. Even though significant progress has been made in institutionalising OH in some South Asian countries, further behavioural, attitudinal, and institutional changes are required to strengthen OH research and training and implementation of sustainably effective integrated zoonotic disease control policies.
authors.affiliation: International Development Group, Institute of Veterinary Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand; j.s.mckenzie@massey.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Joanna S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: McKenzie
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Rojan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dahal
authors.affiliation: Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Manish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kakkar
authors.affiliation: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Nitish
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Debnath
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Mahmudur
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulation Authority, Thimpu, Bhutan.
authors.forename: Sithar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dorjee
authors.affiliation: Animal Sciences Institute, Pakistan Agriculture Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Khalid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Naeem
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Production and Health, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Tikiri
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wijayathilaka
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Livestock Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Barun Kumar
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Health Protection Research Organisation, Kabul, Afghanistan.
authors.forename: Nasir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maidanwal
authors.affiliation: Health Protection Research Organisation, Kabul, Afghanistan.
authors.forename: Asmatullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Halimi
authors.affiliation: International Development Group, Institute of Veterinary Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Eunmi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Pranab
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Surveillance, Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Brecht
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Devleesschauwer
keywords: One Health; South Asia; policy; research; training; zoonoses