The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, in March 2026, has reinforced the region's capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to health threats by establishing mechanisms for enhanced cross-sectoral knowledge exchange at the third Regional One Health Stakeholder Meeting held in Nairobi. These steps mark a decisive move in implementing the EAC Regional One Health Strategy (2022-2027), ensuring that East Africans are better protected from pandemics and emerging public health risks.
One Health is a globally recognised approach that integrates human, animal, and environmental health to address interconnected health challenges. The EAC's Regional One Health Strategy operationalises this approach, guiding coordinated regional action across sectors and disciplines to safeguard public health.
The meeting brought together representatives from Partner States, regional institutions, academia, civil society and international partners. Participants agreed on priority actions to strengthen regional alignment on pandemic preparedness, including:
Confirmation of the EAC Secretariat's central coordinating role in advancing One Health implementation across the region.
Establishment of robust collaboration mechanisms to facilitate knowledge exchange across human, animal, and environmental health sectors.
Prioritisation of workforce capacity development to ensure a skilled regional One Health workforce.
Guidance for Partner States on priority One Health topics requiring targeted support through international cooperation.
The meeting took place amid global developments such as the World Health Organization's adoption of the Pandemic Agreement, underscoring the EAC's strategic role in translating international commitments into coordinated regional action.
During the discussions, Prof. James Wabacha, Animal Health Expert at AU-IBAR, highlighted that effective outbreak response hinges on systematic cross-sectoral information sharing.
EAC Deputy Secretary General, Hon. Andrea Ariik Malueth, noted, "The EAC Secretariat, in collaboration with partners, has long supported Partner States in applying One Health to pandemic preparedness. This meeting identifies capacity gaps and outlines concrete interventions to strengthen the regional One Health workforce."
The meeting concluded with a commitment to operationalise these priorities through continued multi-sectoral collaboration, ensuring regional interventions are evidence-based, coordinated, and results-oriented.
Dr. John Opolot, Assistant Commissioner for Veterinary Health and Zoonoses, Ministry of Health, Uganda, emphasizsed that sustained engagement across sectors is essential for effective implementation.
The meeting was supported by the EAC Support to Pandemic Preparedness in the EAC Region (PanPrep) Project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).