1. One Health meeting Day one summary report Rapporteurs Cameroon and Uganda 12 Nov 2012

2. Opening session The Minister of Health-Gabon officially opened the conference on One health after remarks from HE USA Ambassador to Gabon and the WHO Regional Director. Opening remarks highlighted the 21st Century health threats of emerging and re-emerging diseases; these include; VHFs, H1N1, H5N1, SARS, Lassa, Plague etc. These diseases have been reported in our region and there is need to use One Health concept to detect, prevent and control. 80% of emerging and re-emerging infections in the last 20yrs are linked to animal sources.

3. Objectives General objective Contribute to the strengthening of the prevention of and response to emerging zoonotic disease threats in the African region. Specific objectives To brief participants on the One Health approach To review the implementation of the One Health approach and its added value in responding to outbreaks. To identify challenges and barriers to implementing the One Health approach at country level To propose ways in which countries can strengthen the implementation of the One Health approach.

4. Technical presentations Nine technical presentations were made during the day. The main highlights were: There are more than 200 zoonotic diseases caused by different microorganisms. In the last 10 years, of the 100 disease events, 24% are zoonoses. These new threats are being driven by; o Population pressure o Food security o Economic growth o climate change o globalization

5. Control strategies One Health approach can be successfully implemented through the following key strategies: o Strengthening surveillance and diagnostic capabilities o Implementation of IHR (2005) o Implementation of PVS o Strengthening preparedness and response capacities o Multisectoral coordination and collaboration o Collaborative and adaptive research o Strengthening communication strategy

6. Challenges in OH Implementation A number of challenges were highlighted Policy and legal framework operationalisation Technical Institutional Strategic

7. Recommendations Strengthen and integrate wildlife surveillance in overall OH agenda. Strengthen laboratory diagnostic capacities at all levels. Establish structures and partnership for One Health. Advocate for resource mobilization.