Improving One Health Coordination for Improved Disease Outbreak Response in Côte d’Ivoire

Global health security is imperative for holistic pandemic preparedness and response planning. We know that monitoring both human and zoonotic diseases to detect and share data across multiple sectors is critical to contain emerging threats. Côte d’Ivoire first adopted the One Health approach in 2019, launching its National One Health Platform in 2021 to link disparate surveillance systems for the ministries of health; animal and fisheries resources; agriculture and rural development; and environment. This allows Ivorian officials to have a collaborative system to better prepare, prevent, and plan the country’s response to potential epidemics across governmental agencies.

High Quality One Health Data

CHISU supported the launch of the National One Health platform, by focusing on improving the availability of quality data that forms a basis for collaboration and decision making. We partnered with the different government ministries responsible for One Health to understand their needs and used that information to digitize the One Health information system, unified via an interoperability layer to allow data exchange across all information systems. 

Improved Multisectoral Coordination

However, after the launch, multisectoral coordination bodies were not yet fully functional. This prevented Ivorian officials from optimizing the One Health platform and effectively coordinating a timely and comprehensive response to potential outbreaks. To support improved coordination, we helped organize the first session of the Surveillance Technical Working Group in January 2024, providing stakeholders from the human health, animal health, and environmental sectors with an avenue to coordinate effective responses. Through this working group, CHISU is collaborating with stakeholders to create a One Health information system roadmap to provide a One Health HIS framework the country can use to enhance its systems. 

Cross-Country Learning

CHISU began partnering with One Health government ministries in Burkina Faso in 2020, providing an opportunity to learn from implementation experience. To further support One Health coordination in Côte d’Ivoire, we sponsored a delegation from the One Health Technical Secretariat to attend a One Health coordination meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in January 2024. Participants shared best practices and lessons learned to improve the One Health coordination in Côte d’Ivoire, providing the delegation with insights they have applied in the country.

Additionally, we supported improvements to PLUSS (Plateforme Uune Sseule Ssanté, which is the One Health Platform), Côte d’Ivoire’s national One Health website. Following an assessment of the current website, we engaged web designers to redesign the website to address issues found in the assessment. The improved website allows for greater collaboration and learning between stakeholders and greater visibility of One Health achievements in Côte d’Ivoire, paving the way for One Health work to continue in the country in the future.