24th –  26th  April 2024

Nairobi – Kenya

Venue: Emara Ole Sereni Hotel and Convention Centre .

Theme:

The Role of Regional One Health University Networks in Advancing Global Health Security: developing workforces and fighting Antimicrobial Resistance in the era of Climate Change.

Sub Themes:

1. Climate Change and One Health
2. One Health Workforce Development
3. Climate Change and AMR
4. One Health University Networks setting the agenda for research in Climate Change, Workforce Development, and AMR

 Background to the Conference

The 1st AFROHUN International One Health Conference was held in September 2013 in Addis Ababa, the 2nd in November 2015, and the 3rd in July 2019. These were, respectively, attended by 287, 236, and 310 delegates from all over Africa, Asia, America, and Europe. Participants included practitioners from government and inter-governmental bodies, academia (students and faculty), Civil Society Organizations, researchers, bilateral agencies, and private sector players.

The 4th AFROHUN Conference is expected to attract delegates of different categories. The conference has become a respected platform where development and innovations in One Health are shared across a wide range of actors.  The 4th conference has been designed to include spaces where discussions on improvements are needed in One Health practice by training institutions and practitioners, learning from the ever-increasing complex challenges on the African continent and global stage.

Through the 4th OH conference, AFROHUN seeks to provide spaces for listening to ideas from government representatives, the private sector, and upcoming generations of practitioners and researchers, while catalyzing the co-creation of One Health innovations that will inform its next decade of programs, particularly in climate change and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The 4th AFROHUN International One Health Conference will focus on climate change and zero in on workforce development and antimicrobial resistance.

Climate Change and One Health

Climate change threatens health security. It has worsened public health emergencies like floods, disease outbreaks, drought, and famine, as well as caused severe and widespread adverse effects on population health. Climate change accelerates the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases and will continue to influence interactions at the interfaces between humans, animals, and the environment.  In addition, the frequency of disease outbreaks with pandemic potential is increasing partly because of the effects of climate change. Dealing with the effects of climate change requires a multidisciplinary One Health focus with sectors and disciplines working together to develop holistic interventions. Within this thematic area, the 4th AFROHUN International One Health Conference will provide space for actors to examine the following issues.

• Climate Change and One Health: perspectives from COP28.
• Floods, pandemics, and epidemics.
• Food systems, food security, and safety- climate-smart agriculture.

One Health Workforce Development:

Ensuring global health security requires building a workforce with expertise in social sciences, security, law enforcement, and artificial intelligence, to join the veterinary, agricultural, environmental, and human health experts essential to One Health and the GHSA. A multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach is necessary to prevent disease threats; detect them as early as possible to reduce the extent of their effects and competently respond in case of outbreaks.  Working across such different professions and sectors is a new undertaking for many countries with some existing efforts underway by governments sectors.  A competent One Health workforce is crucial to global health security and pandemic preparedness and response. Building the capacity of regional and national workforces is key to achieving the objectives of global, regional, and national instruments on climate change and AMR. Mainstreaming climate change and AMR, in pre-service workforce development training degrees and diploma programs would be one way of ensuring a field-ready workforce.  AFROHUN and other actors, including One Health practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and other partners, will convene at the conference to share experiences and lessons learned in the area of workforce development, and project needs for the future. The following key issues will be discussed in detail.

• Regional workforce development initiatives: achievements, challenges, and opportunities.
• Workforce assessment and planning.
• Tracking One Health Workforce.
• Developing One Health research capacity.
• Students and alumni symposium.

Climate Change and AMR:

A key challenge identified by the GHSA is the emergence and spread of antimicrobial drug-resistant organisms. The rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is of long-term global health concern, threatening an antimicrobial crisis in which microbials no longer respond to treatment, posing a major challenge to human, animal, plant, and water health. Recent studies show that there is a connection between warmer temperatures and the increasing spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  AMR is a One Health issue, with strong connections to each domain at the human–animals–environmental interface. This conference theme will examine the following issues in detail.

• The phenomenon and state of rising temperatures and contribution to antimicrobial resistance.
• Antimicrobial Resistance and the One Health Approach- promising interventions and approaches.
• AMR surveillance and research; achievements, challenges, and opportunities.

Looking into the future: One Health University Networks setting the agenda for research in Climate Change, Workforce Development, and AMR

The conference will examine initiatives, interventions, and partnership arrangements that university networks can undertake to strengthen and if necessary, reposition in advancing One Health workforce development and fighting antimicrobial resistance in the era of climate change.   The conference will pay particular attention to research capacity in the region and what needs to be done to strengthen it.

• One Health Workforce Development: the unfinished agenda
• AFROHUN’s and other One Health Research Agenda
• Connecting scientists to policymakers and practitioners.
• Initiatives building capacity for research in this field: opportunities for capacity building and partnerships.

Conference target participation

These will include project partners, One Health stakeholders, funding agencies, representatives of National One Health Platforms, key government sectors, research centers, UN agencies (the tripartite), refugee agencies, private sector actors, civil society organizations, students, and media agencies, among others.

Conference sessions

This will be an interactive conference that delivers value to participants in terms of sharing, learning, and networking. Planned sessions will include:

Climate Change and One Health:

• A Keynote address will kick off discussions addressing the connection between climate change and global health security, and how the One Health approach has been applied to respond to climate change and its effects. Participants will also examine what more needs to be done. The keynote address will pay special attention to the discussions and outcomes of COP28 and the implications to the work that One Health University Networks are doing.
• Short lightning talks will be given by scholars and institutions engaged in climate change and the collaborative opportunities in this space, especially for training institutions and One Health University Networks.

One Health Workforce Development:

• Panel discussion of employers that will include the private sector and government/ public perspectives. The panel will feature representatives of National One Health Platforms, officials of key government sectors, civil society organizations, regional blocs, university management, and bilateral agencies. The panel will discuss workforce assessment and planning issues, including how OH workforce can be tracked to aid decision-making. The work that One Health University Networks are doing in this area will feature prominently here.

Conference delegates will explore what AFROHUN and other OHUNs need to do differently to meet the employers’ workforce needs, especially regarding the unique challenges presented by climate change and AMR. Research capacity building will also be discussed.

• A 3-hour student and alumni symposium that will feature an alumni panel examining how One Health training impacted them and the way they understand and do their work. The symposium will feature a session on sharing insights from an alumni survey conducted recently and the implications of the survey results to workforce development initiatives. About 10-15 alumni and students will be supported to attend the symposium. A virtual component will be incorporated to benefit more participants. Students who will not have attended the conference will be mobilized to attend from their institutions in central venues like amp-theatres and central teaching facilities.
• A Gallery walk that will showcase AFROHUN’s impact and that of SEAOHUN in workforce development. Country chapter teams/OHUNs will develop posters out of their existing success stories, for the gallery walk. Lightning presentations will be delivered on Day 1 to trigger interest in the gallery walk.

Climate Change and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR):

• Keynote address by a leading global authority in this area, with good knowledge of the African climate change and AMR context.
• Campfire talk (parallel) to dive deep into the AMR research needs that academic and research institutions need to pay attention to, that inform policy and practice.

A World Café session will be conducted on the last day to synthesize key and emerging thoughts from the conference and distill key messages on how One Health University Networks can provide leadership in workforce development, and antimicrobial resistance in the era of climate change.

Other sessions will include:

• Skills-building sessions –
• 1) Delivering Virtual One Health Courses on the One Health Academies website.
• 2) One Health Policy Communication: using Policy Briefs.
• Photo Competition 
• A Climate Change and One Health photo competition will be launched on March 1^st, We will be sharing the details of the exciting challenge, then.