The lecture will introduce the One Health approach highlighting the historical perspective of global health system, illustrating the complexity of health in the socio-ecological system, and proving conditions and methods to work across disciplines, sectors and geographic boundaries. The audience will better understand the power of system thinking to address endemic and (re)emergence of infectious diseases and transmission dynamics. The lecture will also provide aspects beyond the zoonotic nature of One Health drawing examples from case studies across central Asia and Africa.
Bassirou Bonfoh holds a DVM and a PhD in epidemiology. He worked for five years (1995-2000) in West Africa as a livestock development program coordinator for Vétérinaires Sans Frontières. He went for a four year (2000-2004) epidemiology postdoctoral fellowship at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). He subsequently led for four years (2004-2008) a research group in the Horn Africa, West Africa and Central Asia where he contributed to validate the One Health concept. Between 2009-2018, he was the Managing Director of CSRS where he led the North-South science diplomacy. He is since 2009 to date the Director of the consortium Afrique One contributing to the capacity development on zoonotic diseases elimination. Bassirou Bonfoh is a guest lecturer at University of Liège (Belgium) and at the Pan African veterinary school (Senegal) where he is also the chair of the scientific advisory board. He is author and co-author of more than 220 scientific peer reviewed papers and fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. He is currently working to support ECOWAS in the development of the One Health coordination mechanism as well as the strategic plan. He is now promoting “Farmer vocational school” in Wahala/ Togo that will help to codesign with the IPNET-School of Technology the Guaranteed Minimum Agricultural Wage for a farmer as well as an agricultural socio-ecological insurance scheme.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Fabian Leendertz