Published: 03 Nov 2014 | Last Updated: 03 Nov 2014 15:58:04

A new article involving RVC researchers has recently been published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, relating to One Health.

One Health recognises that the health of humans, animals and ecosystems are connected and advocates coordinated, collaborative, interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches. A One Health approach is perceived as having the potential to increase economic efficiency in the mitigation of zoonotic disease threats; however no standard method of measuring such efficiency increases is available, hindering the accumulation of data supporting the implementation of One Health activities.

One major barrier is a lack of frameworks that guide the integration of available and validated metrics from multiple disciplines. This article therefore proposes a way to integrate data and metrics following a One Health approach to provide decision-makers with relevant information, and applies it to a case study of rabies control in Colombo City, Sri Lanka.

The article shows that the simultaneous consideration of epidemiological, economic, animal welfare, social and ethical factors provide comprehensive information for decision-makers, but also highlights challenges in terms of interpretation of mixed methods results and data collection.

Haesler, BH; Hiby, E; Gilbert, W; Obeyesekere, N; Bennani, H; Rushton, J;.
A One Health Framework for the Evaluation of Rabies Control Programmes: A Case Study from Colombo City, Sri Lanka. (2014).
PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES, 8;10:e3270.