Representatives from Turkmenistan participated in an event on investing in the One Health approach in Central Asia, which took place on September 23 at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome. It was part of the FAO Global Conference on Implementing the One Health Approach in Agriculture and Food Systems. The event was organized by the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC) and the World Bank.
Turkmenistan was represented in the panel discussion along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Participants discussed priority investment areas for the next two to three years. Following the discussion, they noted that regional cooperation yields a higher return on investment than isolated national efforts, particularly in the areas of protection against cross-border threats and the shared use of specialized technical resources.
The One Health approach entails collaborative efforts to protect human, animal, and environmental health. The Regional One Health Coordination Structure (ROHCS) operates in Central Asia, and its Secretariat is hosted by CAREC. This has enabled the transition from planning to practical implementation of priority tasks: developing laboratory cooperation, joint risk assessment and preparedness training for transboundary threats, combating antimicrobial resistance, harmonizing regulatory frameworks, and creating a unified information platform.
The event was attended by representatives of the ministries and agencies of health, agriculture, environment, and food safety from countries in the region, as well as experts from the World Bank, FAO, and the Quadripartite Partnership (FAO, UNEP, WHO, and OIE). The session was moderated by Maral Chommadova, Coordinator of the CAREC Regional One Health Action Plan.
Participants focused on identifying sustainable financing mechanisms, including national budgets, blended finance, and public-private partnerships. These are needed to continue programs after international donor support ends.
According to the organizers, the recommendations formulated at the meeting will be used in the next stage of the implementation of the Regional Action Plan “One Health.”
Google machine translated