By Kuda Pembere
Zimbabwe on Thursday launched its One Health Strategic Plan to guide the country in addressing interconnected environmental, animal and human health threats.
The strategy brings together the Ministries of Health and Child Care, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, and Environment, Climate and Wildlife under a coordinated One Health framework.
In a show of political will at the highest level and officiating at the launch, Vice President Kembo Mohadi, representing President Emmerson Mnangagwa, urged all stakeholders to work collaboratively rather than in isolation.
“Addressing the current health challenges guided by this One Health approach and framework is a strategic way of ensuring that the nation achieves its vision of a prosperous and empowered upper-middle-income society by the year 2030, leaving no one and no place behind,” said VP Mohadi.
“I therefore direct and call upon government ministries, departments and agencies, and all other stakeholders responsible for human, animal and environmental health, to be guided accordingly and to respond to public health challenges through strengthened multisectoral collaboration and a unified policy effort at all levels beyond traditional sectoral boundaries and silos.”
He emphasized that multisectoral collaboration would be central to the effective implementation of the plan.
“The National One Health Strategic Plan does not just prioritize the health of our people, animals and the environment, but also ensures that available resources are efficiently utilized through collaborative efforts,” he said. “The plan clearly outlines the nation’s One Health governance in support of strengthened cross-sector collaboration towards resilient and sustainable One Health systems. The journey to an upper-middle-income society is only possible when Zimbabwe embraces collaborative strategies that ensure resources are used effectively for a healthy nation.”
Acting Health and Child Care Minister Prof Paul Mavima said strengthened disease surveillance would be a cornerstone of the strategy’s implementation.
“Implementation of this strategy will be reinforced by a key institutional development, the establishment of the Public Health Institute of Zimbabwe,” he said. “As this national institute is set up, it will be designed to operationalize the One Health approach by strengthening surveillance, data integration, research, risk assessment and coordinated response across sectors. In this way, One Health will be embedded within Zimbabwe’s evolving national health security architecture.”
Speaking on behalf of World Health Organization Representative to Zimbabwe Dr Desta Tiruneh, Dr Najibullah Safi said the organization had helped mobilize more than US$16 million to support One Health activities.
“WHO has worked with the government and partners to mobilize resources, securing US$16.7 million from the Fund to support One Health activities over the next three years,” he said. “WHO is also supporting the Ministry of Health and Child Care and partners in establishing the Public Health Institute of Zimbabwe, where One Health will be a central pillar.”
He added that in early 2026, WHO would facilitate a national bridging workshop to bring together stakeholders across the One Health interface to identify coordination gaps and develop joint plans for stronger collaboration.
Dr Safi said zoonotic outbreaks, endemic and mutating diseases, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, had demonstrated that the One Health approach was a necessity rather than an option.
“The Quadripartite Partnership has provided a roadmap and tools to act decisively through the One Health Joint Action Plan, which sets six priorities,” he said. “These include strengthening health systems, reducing risks from emerging and re-emerging zoonotic epidemics and pandemics, controlling and eliminating endemic, zoonotic and neglected tropical diseases, combating antimicrobial resistance, ensuring food safety, and integrating environmental considerations into One Health.”
Food and Agriculture Organization Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa Patrice Talla said the success of Zimbabwe’s One Health approach would depend on sustained domestic ownership and financing.
“The implementation plan rightly highlights the need for dedicated and diversified resources to institutionalize cross-sector collaboration,” said Dr Talla. “FAO stands ready to support the government with technical assistance so that every Zimbabwean sees tangible benefits, from safer food and resilient livelihoods to a healthier ecosystem.”
He said it would be critical to operationalize coordination at decentralized levels, scale up integrated surveillance and laboratory networks, invest in workforce development and secure sustainable financing to ensure the strategy moved from policy to practice.
Zimbabwe’s One Health Secretariat member Dr Tinashe Hodobo described the launch as a major milestone.
“This launch of the One Health Strategic Plan 2026 to 2030 is a milestone that we embrace and celebrate, and we commend the Office of the President and Cabinet, through the Office of the Public Health Advisor, which led the process,” he said.
Dr Hodobo said Zimbabwe’s One Health journey formally began around 2017 with the launch of the Antimicrobial Resistance National Action Plan, aligned to the WHO Global Action Plan.
“That marked the operationalization of the One Health governance structure led at the highest level by the permanent secretaries of the Ministries of Health and Child Care, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, and Environment, Climate and Wildlife,” he said. “This leadership has been supported by co-lead groups, advisory structures and technical working groups bringing together government, academia, the private sector, civil society and development partners.”
University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor Prof Paul Mapfumo said the strategy aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 2.
“The University of Zimbabwe is highly honored to be part of the launch of the Zimbabwe National One Health Strategic Plan 2026 to 2030, a milestone that reflects our shared commitment to safeguarding the health of our people, animals and environment,” he said.
