Assessment of One Health Initiatives from a Veterinary Public Health Approach in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) launched the One Health policy in September 2021. To respond to this regional policy, a baseline was generated regarding the use of One Health intersectoral actions aimed at preventing, controlling, and eliminating zoonotic, foodborne diseases and antimicrobial resistance. For this purpose, in July 2022, the Pan American Food and Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health Center, Pan American, Health Organization/World Health Organization (PANAFTOSA/VPH-PAHO/WHO), organized a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to bring together recognized public health and animal health and food safety officers from ministries of health and agriculture from nine different countries of the region: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Honduras, México, and Uruguay, including the three representatives of the Americas in the Quadripartite Panel of One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP 2021-2024). Several good practice examples and lessons learned of multisectoral communication, collaboration, coordination, and capacity building regarding control and prevention of zoonoses, food safety, and antimicrobial resistance programs were identified in these countries. The establishment of governance mechanisms and legal frameworks were the main aspects discussed, followed by the importance of the environmental sector, which often is poorly articulated in One Health initiatives. The leadership of PAHO for more than seven decades is part of the good health governance practices to create the ground for the One Health implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean.