HE the Minister of Health Ramadan Abu Janah and WHO Representative in Libya Dr Ahmed Zouiten co-chair the signing ceremony to launch the One Health approach in Libya. Photo credit: WHO Libya
6 November 2024, Tripoli, Libya – On 3 November, in a ceremony co-chaired by HE the Minister of Health Mr Ramadan Abu Janah and the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative and Head of Mission in Libya Dr Ahmed Zouiten, Libya announced its adoption of One Health, the integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
The initiative was launched in partnership with the Ministry of Health and other One Health stakeholders, including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Local Government, the Food and Drug Control Centre, the National Centre for Animal Health and the National Centre for Disease Control.
In his opening speech Dr Zouiten praised the initiative as a groundbreaking development and underscored the critical role it will play in enhancing health security across Libya.
"Pandemics, epidemics and outbreaks that affect the world from time to time have demonstrated the urgent need to adopt a coordinated approach to health involving all relevant sectors, highlighting more than ever the importance of investing in surveillance, prevention, preparedness and response strategies that include animal, human and environmental health,” said Dr Zouiten.
"This initiative establishes a legal framework to increase interaction, coordination, cooperation and information sharing between different sectors. It will dedicate efforts to create a unified work mechanism to prevent disease outbreaks and enhance capabilities to prevent, detect and respond to One Health threats according to pre-established policies and strategies," said HE Mr Ramadan Abu Janah.
The initiative has been launched thanks to generous funding from the European Union and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. It will build on an earlier collaboration agreement signed in Rome in June 2024 by WHO and the Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità to control and prevent arboviral and zoonotic diseases in Libya.
The implementation of the One Health initiative in Libya is in line with resolution WHA74.7 which aims to support Member States build One Health capacities, urging them “to adopt an all-hazard, multisectoral, coordinated approach in preparedness for health emergencies, recognizing the links between human, animal and environmental health and the need for a One Health approach”, and called for “the existing cooperation among WHO, FAO, OIE and UNEP” to be strengthened “to develop options, for consideration by their respective governing bodies, including establishing a common strategy on One Health, including a joint workplan on One Health to improve prevention, monitoring, detection, control and containment of zoonotic disease outbreaks”.
Media contact:
Yahya Bouzo, Communications Officer, WHO Libya Country Office.
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