Who could be One Health Activist at the community level?: A case for India

Abstract

Background: Community Health Workers (CHWs) are the mainstay of the public health system, serving for decades in low resource countries. Their multi-dimensional work in diverse health care services, including the prevention of communicable diseases and health promotion for non-communicable diseases, are making CHWs the frontline workers in their respective communities in India. As India is heading towards the development of One Health (OH), this study attempted to provide an insight into potential OH activists (OHA) at the community level. Thus, this case study in one of the western cities of India, Ahmedabad, targeted to identify OHA by exploring the motivation to become an OHA in a local setting.Methods: This case study explores two major CHWs i.e. female (Accredited Social Health Activists-ASHA) and male (multipurpose male health worker) on their motivation for becoming an OHA. The data was collected between September 2018 and August 2019 through a mixed design i.e. quantitative data (cross-sectional structured questionnaire) and qualitative data (focus group discussion with a semi-structured interview guide). Results: The motivation of the CHWs for OHA was found to be low. Although most CHWs have received zoonoses training or contributed to zoonoses prevention campaigns, their awareness level was found to be different among male and female health workers. ASHAs were found to be willing to accept the additional new liaison role of OHAs if measures like financial incentives and improved recognition are provided. Conclusion: The high demotivation of CHWs that has been documented on the individual, community, and health system level needs to be urgently addressed in future policies.

The prioritisation of zoonoses in the Republic of North Macedonia – Do we need one health approach

“…Prioritization is also carried out by international organizations (WHO, OIE) or government agencies (ECDC) (EFSA) [15][16][17][18][19] .…”