Evaluation of supporting the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) to address Zoonotic Disease and Animal Health in Africa and Asia

Evaluation of Supporting the Global Health Security Agenda to Address Zoonotic Disease and Animal Health in Africa and Asia

This evaluation identifies lessons learned and good practices from FAO’s implementation of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA-FAO), an eight-year programme to strengthen health systems in 20 countries across Africa and Asia.

Conducted through ten country case studies and validated in regional workshops, the evaluation found that the GHSA-FAO programme enhanced animal health capacity by establishing expert teams at both national and regional levels, strengthening laboratory and surveillance systems, and developing a skilled workforce. These activities build on previous efforts and remain highly relevant, as evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite significant progress in national health capacity, gaps persist at subnational levels and in domains such as data management, evidence generation and political advocacy. Targeted resource allocation and broader partnerships are essential to address these deficiencies.

Contributions of GHSA-FAO activities to disease response preparedness are largely measured using the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool. While the revised JEE better accounts for animal health system contributions to global health security, limitations such as its elaborate scoring mechanism, reduced sensitivity to smaller-scale improvements, and gaps in wildlife and environmental assessments remain.

Sustaining global health security requires ongoing efforts beyond individual programmes. Some GHSA-FAO activities, including field epidemiology training, have been adopted but not financed by governments, threatening their sustainability. Improved design, advocacy and funding diversification are needed.

Targeted activities and communication strategies successfully engaged youth and were recognized by national governments as investments in the future workforce. Despite increased efforts to mainstream gender equality and social inclusion, more structured approaches are needed to maximize impact.

Documents

Country case studies

Tanzania

Building a sustainable laboratory system

For more than 20 years, the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA) had no accredited laboratories.

Through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO’s) Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) programme, the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), supported the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA) to achieve ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation in 2021. This marked a major milestone after over two decades without accredited labs. ECTAD’s support included training, procurement of reagents and quality system strengthening. The government has committed to maintaining accreditation, recognizing its value in boosting meat exports.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted TVLA to produce reagents locally, enhancing self-reliance and reducing costs. The initiative now includes ongoing production of critical lab materials and staff training across mainland United Republic of Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Sierra Leone

Rebuilding a laboratory capacity

The Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) of Sierra Leone was established in 1949, in Teko village, Makeni. During the civil war that broke out in 1991 and lasted 11 years, most of its facilities were destroyed.

After its destruction, the laboratory was renovated and upgraded to Biosafety Level 2 through the GHSA-FAO programme. Now integrated into the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the laboratory has the capacity to diagnose multiple priority zoonoses and transboundary animal diseases, including anthrax, rabies, and foot-and-mouth disease.

In response to operational gaps identified in 2022, the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), supported the development of the National Veterinary Laboratory Strategy 2023–2025. This paved the way for a national laboratory network and a One Health laboratory framework. This multisectoral approach includes human, animal, fisheries and environmental health sectors.

Guinea

Digitizing the transport system for samples

Though the Central Laboratory in Conakry had been renovated and equipped with trained staff, its effectiveness was hampered by high rejection sample rates , caused by poor cold chain management and delays.

To address this, the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) developed a digitalized, secure sample transport system. The system includes a smartphone app and GPS-enabled thermal probes for real-time tracking of sample location and temperature, with data linked to a secure dashboard displaying sample details and status updates.

This innovation significantly improved diagnostic workflows – reducing sample rejection from 30 percent to 4.4 percent, cutting delivery time from 7 to 2 days, result turnaround from 8 to 3 days, and halving delivery costs. These improvements have accelerated decision-making and enabled faster responses to disease outbreaks affecting Guinea’s livestock sector.

Viet Nam

Collaborating with partners to drive the wildlife agenda

The FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) has been instrumental in advancing the wildlife health agenda by building synergies with the forestry, biodiversity and health sectors, and partnering with non-governmental organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society and Traffic.

Key initiatives include: digitizing the registration of captive wildlife breeding centres, contributing to the STOP-SPILLOVER project to reduce zoonotic risks, and supporting the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in identifying species suitable for regulated farming.

FAO also co-chairs the national One Health Wildlife and Pandemic Prevention group, helping to manage risks at the human-animal-ecosystem interface. Ongoing efforts aim to expand wildlife health work in Viet Nam through surveillance, policy development and capacity building.

Kenya

Bridging the technical communication gap

The FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) team in Kenya organized meetings with policymakers to explain how GHSA-FAO activities improve health and safeguard livelihoods.

The meetings showed the FAO-ECTAD team the importance of distilling the information to focus on the most important elements, packaging results in terms of success and including simple economics that illustrate the social impact of interventions. This approach enabled policymakers to better understand the relevance of the work being done and helped spur action.

The team also made significant efforts to further the outreach of programme activities. Success stories were published and posted on the FAO website and promoted to national mainstream media. The roll out of ISAVET in Kenya has also been captured in a video which has been viewed more than 400 times in the last 7 months.

Ghana

Empowering female community animal health workers

In Ghana, many community animal health workers are women. They serve in areas without veterinary officers, and play a vital role in early disease detection. With support from the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) and partners, over 90 workers in 20 communities are being trained in disease recognition and animal husbandry.

Equipped with FAO’s Event Mobile Application (EMA-i app), they can now report suspected cases quickly. FAO-ECTAD has also delivered biosecurity and poultry disease training to women in the Poultry Value Chain Association, enhancing local disease prevention and empowering women to share knowledge with fellow farmers.

Bangladesh

Investing in vocation training and student education

The FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in Bangladesh is modernizing veterinary education. This is being achieved by training university faculty in updated teaching methods and working with the Bangladesh Veterinary Pedagogy Forum to support collaboration among educators.

Educational modules on priority zoonoses are now integrated into curricula. The development of the Bangladesh Veterinary Olympiad is further enhancing learning by testing students’ theoretical, clinical and communication skills in a team format that promotes gender balance. Participants get the opportunity to connect with professionals and volunteer at the Continuing Education for the Veterinarians and Animal Husbandry Graduates of Bangladesh (CEVET), a national veterinary education event. Together, these initiatives are strengthening veterinary training, inspiring students and preparing a new generation of professionals to meet future animal health challenges.

Indonesia

Engaging the private sector for monitoring of avian influenza

To track evolving strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture created the Influenza Virus Monitoring network, a web-based system for real-time virus surveillance.

The network unites government laboratories, universities and the private sector, including vaccine producers and poultry associations, to enhance early detection. Samples are genetically analysed to guide vaccine development. A local vaccine company contributes field samples and uses the results to design effective vaccines. Now run by the government, the network has become a regional reference for bioinformatics.

Cameroon

Increasing resilience to future health emergencies

Mpox is endemic in Cameroon . The country has experienced several outbreaks in both humans and wildlife over the last 50 years and the disease is considered a priority zoonosis.

The GHSA-FAO programme support for the control of mpox has included improving sample transport systems, supplying laboratory equipment and reagents, and training ecoguards and veterinarians in wildlife capture and sample handling.

Following an outbreak in 2021, a joint risk assessment was conducted and regional awareness efforts have been ramped up.

These initiatives reflect a strong One Health approach, aiming to boost preparedness, surveillance and risk communication – ultimately increasing Cameroon’s resilience to mpox and other emerging health threats.

Senegal

Institutionalizing and Operationalizing the One Health Platform

With support from the GHSA-FAO, Senegal has made significant progress in institutionalizing the One Health approach. A nationwide campaign – kicked off by a regional meeting, university events and media engagement – led to a Prime Ministerial Decree establishing the National One Health Platform. This high-level platform now guides multisectoral coordination to mobilize resources and respond quickly to health threats.

A high-level government workshop and mapping of key actors resulted in the formation of seven technical working groups to develop strategic plans, surveillance manuals and protocols. The platform has been decentralized to regional and local levels, improving coordination and response to zoonotic diseases such as Rift Valley fever. One working group has already mobilized funding for antimicrobial resistance activities, with FAO-ECTAD, serving as implementing partner.

These efforts are building a sustainable, responsive One Health system across Senegal.

Evaluation at FAO