Oman hosts regional meeting to accelerate implementation of “One Health” Programme

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Health, hosted today a regional meeting to accelerate the implementation of the “One Health” programme in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMED) Region.

The 4-day meeting has been organized in cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and WHO’s European Regional Office.

The meeting reviews regional and global progress made in the field of One Health, exchanging of the best practices to implement the “One Health” initiative within countries of the EMED and other measures.

It considers introducing a unified framework for the “One Health” framework programme. It also explores ways to adapt the programme at country-level, the training of participants and the establishment of a regional “One Health” network to facilitate the implementation of national One-Health plans.

The meeting also seeks ways to identify needs for additional support and to form a Quartet One-Health Working Group.

The opening of the meeting was held under the auspices of Dr. Said Harib Al Lamki, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Health Affairs. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Al Lamki said that disease outbreaks and public health risks that threaten humanity are often unpredictable and require rapid response before they propagate across countries. In this context, global health preparedness assumes great significance, he added.

Al Lamki pointed out that the One-Health system approach seeks to achieve sustainable balance and improve the health of humans, livestock, plants and ecosystems. “We realize that the health of human beings, domestic and wild animals, plants and the environment are closely linked to each other,” he observed.

Meanwhile, Dr. John Jabbour, Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Sultanate of Oman, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that Oman already started to apply and implement the One Health concept which, he affirmed, boosts global interest in this issue.

Jabbour stressed that this meeting reflects the efforts of Oman and the participating countries to implement the One Health programme.

On his turn, Dr. Ahmed Salim Al Mandhari, WHO’s Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said that Covid-19 pandemic focused on the links between our health, the health of animals, and the environment. This pandemic demonstrated the need for cooperation in controlling interaction among humans, animals and the environment to prevent further national and international health contingencies, he noted.

The regional quartet meeting is attended by 22 countries from the Eastern Mediterranean region. It brings together a large number of specialists and decision-makers in the human health sector, the animal health sector, the environment sector and the municipality sector. – ONA