From the 5^th to 8^th December 2023, Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) in collaboration with UKHSA’s International Health Regulations Strengthening Project (IHR-SP) and the UN Quadripartite (FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH) held a Joint Risk Assessment Operational Tool (JRA OT) workshop in Lusaka Zambia. The JRA OT enables countries to apply a One Health approach to assessing and addressing complex health threats at the human – animal – environment interface. It is one of the operational tools developed by the UN Quadripartite to support countries to assess risks in a standardised and multisectoral way.

The aim of the JRA OT workshop was to build capacity of One Health stakeholders in Zambia to:

• apply the standardized 10-step process of joint risk assessments for priority endemic and emerging threats at the human – animal- environment interface
• identify the current gaps
• recommend approaches for control of these threats
• reach a multi-sectoral consensus on achievable management options and communication messages that are relevant to the country context.

The workshop was targeted at technical experts with experience in the control and management of zoonotic diseases in Zambia from the Ministries of Health, Fisheries and Livestock, Department of National Parks and Wildlife, and the Ministry of the Green Economy and Environment.

Led by IHR-SP and the UN Quadripartite, the first day of the workshop was a training day to equip a small group of local facilitators with the principles of the joint risk assessment process to build capacity in country. These participants will then form the core technical committee who can carry out JRAs in the future and will be able to train others in Zambia to carry out the JRA process.

Over the next 3 days the newly trained facilitators utilised their knowledge from the first day of the workshop, leading the other workshop participants to apply the JRA process to three prioritised zoonoses: anthrax, rabies and avian influenza.

In total there were 55 participants from the Ministries of Health, Livestock and Fisheries, Green Economy and Environment, Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Local Government and Rural development, ZNPHI, the UN Quadripartite, the Universities, Africa Center for Disease Control, UKHSA and other One Health partners.

By the end of the workshop, the full JRA process was conducted using a One Health approach. Three reports were produced covering recommendations made by the multi-sectoral group of experts for each of the prioritised zoonoses; anthrax, rabies and avian influenza.  The JRA results will now incorporate these into existing and future outbreak responses.

ZNPHI has expressed the desire for the risk assessment process to be applied to the remaining prioritised zoonotic diseases and IHR-SP will continue to provide technical expertise.