Qualitative Assessment of One Health Operationalization at the Central Level and in Two Border Districts of Sierra Leone.

Authors

Joseph Anderson Bunting-Graden, Fatmata Sawaneh, Alhassan Mayei, Monya Konneh, Patrick Fatoma, Emmanuel Komba Finoh, Lily Kainwo, Wesen Konteh, Mukeh Kenneth Fahnbulleh, Klaere Heyden, Mohamed Alex Vandi, Foday Sahr, Adel Hussein Elduma Abdalla, Rashid Ansumana, Kinley Wangdi, Philip P Mshelbwala

Published in

Public health challenges. Volume 5. Issue 3. Pages e70338. Epub Aug 12, 2026.

Abstract

Zoonotic diseases with epidemic potential pose a serious public health threat in Sierra Leone, where the One Health (OH) approach has been adopted to strengthen multi-sectoral preparedness and response. This study assessed the operationalization of OH in responding to such diseases at the central level and in two districts, Kambia and Kailahun, using content analysis of semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and key documents. Manifest and latent analysis generated themes, including coordination and collaboration, surveillance and reporting, human resource capacity, communication, funding, and community engagement and awareness. Our study found that at the central level, OH sectors showed strong coordination, a functional surveillance system, established communication platforms and relatively strong capacity. District and community levels, by contrast, showed weak coordination, fragmented surveillance and limited communication, along with low animal health (AH) workforce capacity and OH awareness. Community level AH workers lacked an integrated approach to preventing, detecting and reporting zoonotic disease risks. Across all levels, OH activities lacked dedicated funding and relied solely on partner support, with the AH sector facing notable workforce shortages. OH, implementation was markedly weaker at district and community levels than at the central level, a disparity largely attributable to the absence of dedicated funding. Despite these gaps, the OH approach holds considerable potential for mitigating and managing zoonotic disease risks in Sierra Leone.

PMID:
42592549
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.