Browsing by Author "Delia Grace"

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    Ecohealth research in Southeast Asia: Past, present and the way forward
    (2015-01-29) Hung Nguyen-Viet; Siobhan Doria; Dinh Xuan Tung; Hein Mallee; Bruce A. Wilcox; Delia Grace; International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI); Hanoi School of Public Health; Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH); Universitat Basel; National Institute of Animal Sciences; National Institutes for the Humanities, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature; Mahidol University; Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine; International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi
    © 2015 Nguyen-Viet et al. Ecohealth is a comprehensive approach to understanding health at its human, animal and environmental interface in a socio-ecological systems context. This approach was introduced widely in Southeast Asia (SEA) by the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in the late 2000s. Aimed at addressing the problem of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), numerous such projects and activities have been generated throughout the region. Ecohealth is increasingly converging with the One Health approach, as both movements emphasise a holistic understanding to health. We conducted a scoping review by considering all of the Ecohealth programmes, initiatives and projects that have been implemented in SEA since the introduction of the approach, and also gathered information from peer-reviewed literature. The objective of this paper is to review Ecohealth activities within SEA over the last 10 years to address the lessons learned, challenges faced and the way forward for Ecohealth in the region. Activities range from those focusing purely on capacity, projects focusing on research and projects covering both. Achievements to date include, for example, research contributing to the field of infectious diseases in relation to social ecological factors and associated urbanisation and agricultural intensification. Challenges remain at the project design and implementation level, in the available capacity and coordination to develop Ecohealth research teams in the countries, gauging teams' assimilation of Ecohealth's underlying tenets and their translation into sustainable disease prevention and control, as well as in the ability to scale up Ecohealth projects. We suggest that the way forward for Ecohealth should be from a regional perspective in terms of research, training and policy translation using Ecohealth in combination with the One Health approach.
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    International, Transdisciplinary, and Ecohealth Action for Sustainable Agriculture in Asia
    (2021-02-05) Hung Nguyen-Viet; Giang Pham; Steven Lam; Phuc Pham-Duc; Tung Dinh-Xuan; Fang Jing; Pattamaporn Kittayapong; Wiku Adisasmito; Jakob Zinsstag; Delia Grace; Hanoi School of Public Health; Universitas Indonesia; International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi; Universitat Basel; Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH); University of Greenwich; Kunming Medical University; Mahidol University; National Institute of Animal Science
    Sustainably intensifying agriculture to secure food for people, while minimizing the human, animal, and environmental health impacts is an unprecedented global food security challenge. Action research is needed to understand and mitigate impacts, with Ecosystem approaches to health (Ecohealth) emerging as a promising framework to support such efforts. Yet, few have critically examined the application of Ecohealth principles in an agricultural context, particularly in Southeast Asia where agricultural intensification is rapidly expanding. In this paper, we evaluate the strengths, challenges, and opportunities of agriculture-related Ecohealth projects in low-resource settings of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and China, drawing on a case study of the Field Building Leadership Initiative (FBLI). To do this, we used a developmental evaluation framework involving several iterative cycles of document reviews, interviews, focus groups, and outcome harvesting with researchers, partners, and community members involved in FBLI. Results highlight the importance of transdisciplinarity, participation, and knowledge-to-action principles in co-generating knowledge and co-developing practical solutions. Implementing such principles presents challenges in terms of coordinating regional collaborations, managing high workloads, meaningfully engaging communities, and ensuring ongoing monitoring and evaluation. To address these challenges, there is a need to strengthen capacity in integrated approaches to health, improve institutionalization of Ecohealth, foster community engagement, and systematically monitor and evaluate efforts. Ecohealth holds significant promise in improving food security, but only when considerable time is spent developing and implementing projects with communities.
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    Production diseases in smallholder pig systems in rural Lao PDR
    (2019-01-01) Hannah R. Holt; Phouth Inthavong; Kate Blaszak; Chattouphone Keokamphe; Anousone Phongmany; Stuart D. Blacksell; Peter A. Durr; Kerryne Graham; John Allen; Blánaid Donnelly; Kim Newberry; Delia Grace; Silvia Alonso; Jeff Gilbert; Fred Unger; International Livestock Research Institute Addis Ababa; International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi; Royal Veterinary College University of London; CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory; Mahidol University; Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine; Community Veterinary Outreach; International Livestock Research Institute; Mahosot Hospital; Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
    © 2018 Pigs in Lao People's Democratic Republic are important for income and food security, particularly in rural households. The majority of pigs are reared in smallholder systems, which may challenge the implementation of any disease control strategies. To investigate risk factors for pig production diseases in such farming systems in the country a serological survey was conducted during 2011. A total of 647 pigs were sampled, accounting for 294 households in Luang Prabang and 353 in Savannakhet province representing upland and lowland, respectively. The results demonstrated that pigs in Lao PDR had antibodies against erysipelas (45.2%), CSF (11.2%), PRRS (8.6%), FMD O (17.2%) and FMD Asia 1, (3.5%). Differences in the housing systems influenced disease risk, for example, penned pigs had reduced odds of FMD and CSF, compared to those in scavenger systems. Pigs owned by farms using a sanaam (a communal area where pigs are kept for some time of the year) had 3.93 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09–14.7) times the odds of having pigs seropositive for FMD. Farms on which sudden piglet deaths had been experienced were more likely to have pigs seropositive for FMD O and erysipelas. These diseases constrain the development of village farming and the wider livestock industry due to their impact on productivity and trade. Vaccination coverage for FMD and CSF was low and there was a lack of national funding for livestock disease control at the time of the study. Further investigation into sustainable low-cost control strategies for these pathogens is warranted.