The national policy dialogue, held in Accra, provided a platform for stakeholders to assess progress, align priorities, and advance integrated strategies to address health threats—particularly in the wake of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ghana’s pandemic response highlighted the importance and practicality of cross-sectoral action, leading to the establishment of the national One Health Platform.

The dialogue, organised under the Evidence-Informed Policy Approaches for One Health (OH-EVI) project, focused on translating research evidence into policy to build more resilient health systems.

The OH-EVI project is being implemented by the Global Health and Infectious Disease Research Group at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology 
(KNUST), with support from the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the German Ministry of Health.

The initiative builds on outcomes from a three-day stakeholder engagement held in November 2024, where policymakers, researchers, and other sector actors developed Evidence Briefs for Policy (EBPs) to support informed decision-making, particularly in areas like antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Speaking at the dialogue, Dr. Michael Owusu, Lead of the Virology and Diagnostic Group at KNUST and Co-Lead of the One Health Virology Group at KCCR, underscored the need to bridge the gap between knowledge production and policy implementation.

Dr. John Amuasi, Principal Investigator of the OH-EVI project, noted that while Ghana’s One Health policy—initiated in 2020—is yet to be finalized, the current momentum presents an opportunity to incorporate recent evidence and global best practices.

He said the OH-EVI aligns with global initiatives such as the Lancet One Health Commission Report and the WHO Pandemic Agreement, positioning Ghana to be a regional leader in integrated health policy.

Madam Ruth Arthur, Director of Disease Epidemics at the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), emphasized that effective coordination and policy clarity are critical to the implementation of One Health, urging the government to view it as an investment in national resilience.

Dr. Badu Sarkodie, former Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, reiterated that the One Health framework is key to ensuring national health and food security while reducing the risk of future outbreaks.