The Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) is playing a crucial role in the lead‑up to the Southern and Eastern Africa One Health Conference 2025, scheduled for December 11‑12, 2025 in Lusaka. In an interview, Prof. Roma Chilengi, Director General of ZNPHI, highlighted Zambia’s One Health leadership and the significance of the conference. One Health is an approach that treats human, animal and environmental health as interconnected elements. In Zambia, where agriculture underpins the economy, diseases such as anthrax and rabies pose a serious threat to human health, especially in rural areas. Misuse of antibiotics in humans and livestock also fuels antimicrobial resistance, making common infections harder and more expensive to treat.
To confront these challenges, Zambia adopted a National One Health Strategic Plan 2022‑2026, which guides collaboration across the human, animal and environmental sectors. The plan establishes joint emergency teams, shared information systems and targeted prevention measures to protect families, safeguard livelihoods and strengthen the health system. Governments in Eastern and Southern Africa should prioritize One Health because it offers a cost‑effective way to protect lives, farmers’ livelihoods, the environment and national economies. The region faces major health threats—including zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food‑borne infections and climate‑linked outbreaks—that cross borders and jeopardize trade routes and shared ecosystems.
The Regional One Health Conference aims to unite countries and sectors under a common One Health vision. It will bring together ministers of health, agriculture and environment, technical experts, youth leaders, civil society and the private sector to agree on new ways of working. A key outcome will be a Regional One Health Joint Call to Action, outlining coordinated surveillance, emergency response and investment across sectors.
Zambia has made significant progress in embedding One Health, establishing ZNPHI in 2020 and endorsing the National One Health Strategic Plan 2022‑2026. The plan has been operationalized through multisectoral One Health technical working groups in all ten provinces. Conference partners—including the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the World Bank and the Quadripartite (WHO, FAO, WOAH and UNEP)—play vital roles in advancing One Health in Southern and Eastern Africa. SADC helps member states coordinate surveillance, align standards and cooperate on cross‑border threats, while the World Bank and the Quadripartite provide technical guidance, tools, funding and support.
The conference is expected to be a major regional milestone, bringing together countries and sectors to address the significant health threats facing the region. Its outcomes will represent a substantial step toward a more resilient and coordinated approach to health, agriculture and the environment in Southern and Eastern Africa.
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