One Health Without Borders: ECOWAS Strengthens Regional Collaboration for a Safer, Healthier West Africa
Accra, Ghana | 10–13 November 2025
The ECOWAS Annual One Health Technical Meeting gathered policymakers, practitioners, and partners at the Alisa Hotel, Northridge, for four days of focused collaboration on regional health security. From the outset, speakers underscored a shared imperative: only sustained collaboration, innovation, and regional solidarity can deliver the systems West Africa needs to anticipate, detect, and respond to health threats at the human–animal–environment interface.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Diarrassouba, Director General, RCSDC, underscored the need for sustained collaboration and innovation to tackle ongoing health security challenges.
Fatima H. Zanna, Head of Programme, GIZ RPPP, reaffirmed German Cooperation’s commitment to supporting ECOWAS in strengthening regional health security through the German BMZ funded RPPP programme. She stressed that health is a major driver of the economy, and that investments in health must deliver broader gains for economic growth and regional stability.
Dr. Anthony Ayeke, Representative of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, underscored that a regional One Health approach is vital to achieving a safer and healthier ECOWAS region, reaffirming the EU’s continued partnership in building resilient systems that protect lives and livelihoods.
Professor Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, Director General, Ghana Health Service, showcased Ghana’s strides in implementing the One Health approach, including digital surveillance partnerships with Veterinary Services to track dog bite cases. He stressed that no country could achieve health security in isolation, calling for stronger political commitment, cross-sectoral collaboration, and locally driven solutions to achieve sustainable One Health targets across ECOWAS.
The meeting moved quickly from principles to practice. Regional updates mapped tangible progress and persistent gaps. Ghana reported rolling out IDSR 3 with a One Health lens and six priority zoonoses, enabled by coordination among the health, agriculture, and environment ministries. Nigeria outlined the expansion of its One Health coordination mechanisms at both technical and steering levels. Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea described stronger cross-sector collaboration and growing use of digital tools; Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau spotlighted financing, and coordination challenges many countries share. These exchanges sharpened a set of immediate questions: how to codify data-sharing, how to embed interoperability, and how to finance sustained implementation.
Technical sessions added depth and tools. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control demonstrated an integrated suite for surveillance and case management, from IBCM to vaccination coverage estimators interoperable with DHIS2 and designed for multi-sector inputs, with user-controlled data ownership. RCSDC traced the region’s rapid shift from paper to digital platforms since COVID-19 and outlined ongoing work to transform and integrate One Health data for faster, more accurate detection and response. WHO AFRO emphasized the socio-ecological realities that shape risk and response; AU-IBAR set the continental context, linking human, animal, and environmental data streams to priority themes such as transboundary animal diseases, wildlife and aquatic zoonoses, and vector-borne threats.
Panel discussions converged on practical levers of change. Participants called for agreement on a core set of cross-cutting indicators; early design of interoperable, user-oriented systems; stronger legal frameworks that enable data sharing; and targeted vaccination strategies guided by risk assessment, especially for rabies control. They stressed sustaining human capacity through leadership programmes, FETP/FELTP pipelines, and training-of-trainers models that democratize skills. Several interventions urge deeper engagement at community level — where data originate and behavior change takes root, and clearer written protocols to unlock routine information flow across agencies that too often operate in silos. Recognizing capacity constraints in the environmental sector, delegates encouraged nearer-term collaboration with established climate and environmental institutions, including CILSS (Agrhymet), while longer-term options for a regional environmental center are explored. In parallel, a preliminary One Health indicator framework for the seven prioritized zoonotic diseases was developed, providing a foundational tool for strengthening regional, cross-sectoral surveillance.
A standout moment was the unveiling of a draft concept note for an ECOWAS Surveillance Community of Practice (CoP).
Framed as a practical engine for implementation, the ECOWAS Surveillance Community of Practice (CoP) is designed to offer technical and operational backstopping, knit together a network of peers and mentors, and convert leadership learning into shared practice. Its ambitions are concrete: codify roles and accountability; co-create evidence-to-policy tools; integrate environmental datasets such as land use and water quality to anticipate spillover risk; and harmonize approaches so lessons in one country are usable in another. In language-based working groups: Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone, participants reviewed and refined the concept. RCSDC then outlined the coordination pathway, and nominees from Member States were proposed to form the inaugural coordination team, signaling strong regional ownership from the start.
Going forward, participants recommended that the region move toward a harmonized set of One Health indicators and interoperable data systems to enable coordinated, cross-sectoral decision-making. They further emphasized that technical and financial support from partners should be deliberately aligned with ECOWAS frameworks and national priorities to ensure coherence and avoid fragmented efforts. Strengthening laboratories and logistics systems, particularly integrated mechanisms for biological sample transport in line with the PROALAB model, was highlighted as essential to improving diagnostics and response readiness. Participants also underscored the need for systematic documentation of research outputs to attract sustainable funding, promote evidence-based planning, and support regional scale-up of proven interventions. Above all, continuous capacity building remains central: equitable participation across human, animal, and environmental sectors, stronger subnational implementation, and structured mentorship were identified as critical to maintaining the skills and leadership needed to operationalize One Health effectively across the region.
As proceedings ended, the tone was pragmatic and forward-looking. The week in Accra did more than restate the value of One Health; it stitched together commitments, tools, and people into a clearer pathway for implementation. With refreshed momentum, from digital platforms and standardized indicators to a forthcoming Surveillance Community of Practice, ECOWAS and its Member States have set in motion the next phase of regional resilience.
The charge now is execution: translating consensus into coordinated national actions that protect lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems across West Africa, anchored in collaboration, innovation, and shared accountability.
Author: Sodipe, Oluwaseun Oluwasegun