SVG receiving help to prioritise zoonotic diseases
THE FOOD AND Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and partners are helping Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, and Saint Kitts and Nevis step-up efforts to prioritize zoonotic diseases and shape policy using the One Health Approach.
Seventy-two officials from the Ministries of Health and Agriculture, including the Chief Medical Officers, the Chief Veterinary Officers, Public Health epidemiologists, Environmental Health officers, veterinary officers and laboratory specialists attended four workshops in Barbados from November 10-21, 2025 in an effort to strengthen preparedness, prevention, and response to emerging health threats.
The four workshops were delivered with technical support from the (FAO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), through the Pan American Center for Footand- Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health (PANAFTOSA), and the PAHO Office in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries, a release from the FAO states.
During the workshops PARTICIPANTS AT THE workshop in St Lucia participants from the Ministries of Health and Agriculture reviewed 40 zoonotic diseases using the adapted PANAFTOSA prioritization methodology. The diseases were assessed against key criteria, including, human transmissibility, animal-to-human transmission potential, severity and public health impact, economic impact, feasibility of surveillance, climate sensitivity, and impacts on vulnerable groups. This evidence-based process enabled each country to identify and prioritize the zoonotic diseases and health risks of greatest concern, providing a solid foundation for public policies at the human–animal– environment interface under the One Health approach.
The workshops also served to define the next steps for coordinated national action. Proposed priorities include strengthening routine multi-sectoral surveillance, harmonizing case definitions and standard operating procedures, improving information-sharing between sectors, engaging private veterinarians in national surveillance efforts, developing a national One Health emergency disease action plan, and planning long-term initiatives such as multi-sectoral simulation exercises and integrated surveillance systems. The FAO release added that the process helped participating countries pinpoint high-priority diseases and reinforce their prevention, preparedness, surveillance, and control efforts.
The resulting validated list of priority zoonotic diseases will improve cross-sector collaboration, streamline institutional coordination, and guide better public health decisions and resource use.
Dr. Frédérique Dorleans, Advisor, Social and Environmental Determinants for Health Equity PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries, underscored the importance of the workshops. She stated that, “The collaborative and inter-sectoral workshops gathering Ministries of Health and Agriculture… in the four Eastern Caribbean countries… was a critical opportunity in advancing towards preparedness and strengthening capacities to respond to future emerging infectious health threats”.
She added,This “Pandemic Fund project” jointly supported by FAO, PAHO/ WHO and the World Bank, provided the opportunity to prioritizing the most relevant zoonotic diseases at the national level, hence, providing a common ground for future strategic activities targeting surveillance, effective prevention, and control as well as supporting resource allocation optimization, public health decision-making and inter-sectoral coordination under the One Health approach”.
Tania de Getrouwe Hoost, Livestock Development Officer and FAO’s lead technical officer for the project, highlighted the technical significance of the workshops.
“The zoonotic disease prioritization exercises provided an opportunity to apply a rigorous, evidence-based methodology that integrates epidemiological, environmental, and socioeconomic criteria to guide national decision-making,” she is quoted as stating.
“ By systematically evaluating 40 zoonoses using the adapted PANAFTOSA framework, countries were able to generate validated, context-specific priority lists that directly inform the design of multi-sectoral surveillance systems, laboratory capacity-building, and targeted prevention and control strategies.”
The project is led by the participating countries’ Ministries of Health and Agriculture, with PAHO/ WHO, FAO, and the World Bank serving as implementing agencies.
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