One Health structures in and between European countries

RIVM, in collaboration with (the members of) the Med-Vet-Net Association (MVNA) and other European stakeholders such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and European Environment Agency (EEA), aim to strengthen European One Health networks built by MVNA and the One Health European Joint Programme (One Health EJP) within Europe.

To achieve this goal, we will map and build on relevant existing Veterinary, Public Health and Environmental structures within Europe. Cooperation is further enabled by applying system mapping and sharing expertise and experience on the practical implementation of One Health in the management of zoonoses, with an emphasis on surveillance (see One Health EJP project MATRIX), Laboratories (One Health-HARMONY-CAP) and Risk Assessment & alert (see One Health EJP project COHESIVE). The methods (tools) that will be used for collaboration and the active transfer of information, such as epidemiological data and lab analysis results, knowledge and skills, are developed in, among others, COHESIVE, including a decision support tool for One Health joint Risk assessment and an Informal Sharing Platform.

In this project, One Health networks are considered those structures that enable, encourage and facilitate collaboration and sharing of data and expertise between Public Health, Veterinary, and Environmental domains. Countries invited for participation are current EU European Union (European Union ) member states, including Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.   

One Health Strengthening Europe is related to the Dutch National Action Plan for strengthening (non-food-borne) zoonoses disease policy.  This plan is a collaborative initiative of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.   

Role of RIVM

One Health Strengthening Europe is coordinated by RIVM and the implementation and execution is a joint effort with members of the Med-Vet-Net Association (MVNA). Emphasis is on sharing experiences in building within-country and regional One Health networks and expanding existing networks within and beyond country borders to the mutual benefit of the organising and participating countries. 

Meetings

  • A kick-off meeting will be held on 9 and 10 September 2024,  followed by regional workshops and a closing meeting at the end of 2025. More information about the kick-off meeting.

Funding

The project is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS).