African countries have been urged to adopt the One Health framework, a collaborative public health approach, amid concerns of pandemic outbreaks and for the emerging and re-emerging of highly infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and Ebola that adversely affect human health.

The call was made by a group of academics and public health experts during a discussion on 30 March titled ‘One Health and Public Health in Africa’, which formed part of the public dialogue series. The One Health event was hosted by the Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) and the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa.

The AAP was co-created by Michigan State University and African thought leaders in 2016. It is a consortium of Michigan State University and 10 leading African universities, including UP, which collaborate to address continental and global challenges.