Photo: Group photo of participants

HEAL attended three days workshop organized by the Ethiopian Veterinary Association (EVA) and Tufts University with the theme “Ethiopia Scenario”. The workshop was conducted to share lessons learned on One Health (OH) service delivery at the community level and discuss the way forward to strengthen access to and integration of human, animal and environmental health services. The workshop was opened with the welcoming speech of the president of EVA, a key note speech from National One Health Steering Committee (NOHSC) chairperson Dr. Feyisa Regassa and opening speech of Dr. Wubshet Zewdie, senior official from the Ministry of Agriculture.

A team of consultants from Tufts university presented finding from their recent OH focused field visit in different parts of the county including HEAL sites in Oromia and Somali regions. The workshop inter alias deliberated on:

• The current practice of OH
• OH in the national context
• Strength and challenges of OH under normal (non-emergency) situation
• Strength and challenges of OH under emergency situation
• Approaches to integration of the three services (animal, human and environment)
• Gaps observed on the implementation of OH and potential solutions to address it. 

A total of 36 officials and practitioners drawn from the Federal and Regional Governments of Ethiopia, EVA, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), UN Agencies, Tufts University, Community Animal Health Workers (CAHW) and community leaders attended the three days (February 6 – 8, 2023) workshop in Adama, Ethiopia.

Contributed by:

Metalign Ayehu,

HEAL Regional MEAL Lead