Republic of Uganda

Courtesy Photo:

UGANDA MEDIA CENTER: Dear Members of the Press,
I take this opportunity on behalf of the Government and One Health fraternity to welcome you all to this important event of the commemoration of One Health Day both nationally and globally. This is a reckoned milestone for the National One Health Platform (NOHP), the Government of Uganda and the implementing Ministries, Departments and Agencies. I am glad to brief you about the World One Health Day to be commemorated on 3rd November 2021 and the national event will be held at Mweya- Queen Elizabeth National Park.

This event is globally commemorated annually, and in Uganda it is spearheaded by NOHP. The event seeks to provide an interface for One Health sector actors and other stakeholders to dialogue and exchange views, knowledge and experiences on issues related to implementation of One Health in the country.
Ladies and Gentlemen;

The National One Health Platform in collaboration with key partners has enabled us to celebrate the annual One Health Day 2021. The event will be attended by high-level political participation and other implementing
partners, this will enable us to deliberate on pertinent One Health issues aiming at empowering sectors to prevent, respond to and control public
health events in the country in order to achieve development targets in the

National Development Plan III (NDP III), attain vision 2040, agenda 2063 and 2030.
The NOHP will celebrate the 6th annual One Health Day 2021 at Mweya Queen Elizabeth National Park on 3rd November 2021 with the theme; "One Health for improved Health Security"

Why Mweya;
a) the area has been a hotspot for many public health threats including zoonoses
b) Government wants to test the "whole- of – society" principle and seek collective actions from multiple disciplines
c) In addition, UWA will unveil to the public a state of art Biosafety Level 2 laboratory for disease diagnosis particularly in wildlife. This will be the first ever Wildlife Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in UWA. The facility will support our diagnostic and surveillance work, assist the neighbouring districts with livestock disease diagnosis and support the academia and research institutions in research, development and innovations and human capital development.

Through our transboundary collaboration with Virunga National Park in DRC coordinated by Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC), the laboratory will assist in testing samples shipped from the Virungas. We are set to join the network of national, regional and international laboratory

systems for enhanced capacity and are working towards being recognized and recorded in the national laboratory records.
The global One Health Day 2021 is intrinsically linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to Uganda's National Development Plan III which focuses on achieving socio-economic transformation.

Ladies and Gentlemen;
The International One Health Day 2021 will strive to create awareness about the need for the 'whole government' (One Health approach) in addressing and securing the health of the people, animals and environment. It will focus on fostering partnerships and collaboration for effective and sustained One Health multi-sectoral coordination mechanism at national and sub national levels by ensuring that multi-sectoral collaborations are established, functional and deliver more coordinated responses and are appropriate systems and structures to ensure commitment and accountability.
The celebration to mark World One Health Day 2021 will be open to the public, sector line Ministries, Political leaders at different levels, donors, academia, civil society organisations, the media, public and private sector
institutions.

Therefore, the NOHP through the ministries responsible for Health, Water and Environment, Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries together with Uganda Wildlife Authority currently chairing the platform, invites all the key
stakeholders and the general public to take part in the global One Health

celebrations and be a part of the biggest celebration for the cause of improving health security in Uganda. It is only with concerted efforts that we shall realise exponential results.
Thank you very much for indulgence and listening to me
For God and my Country
Sam Mwandha
Executive Director UWA/ NOHP Chair

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