AWARENESS OF THE ONE HEALTH CONCEPT AMONG RESEARCHERS IN N.V.R.I, VOM, NIGERIA -

Although integrated medical thinking is not an entirely new concept as there have been such concept in ancient times; the upsurge of emerging and re- emerging diseases in the world today; with most infectious diseases of man being of animal origin; gave rise to the concept of “One Health”. The recent epidemics of avian influenza H1N1, Lassa fever and Ebola virus disease in some West African countries raised a lot of concern on the scourge of emerging infectious diseases. We carried out a pilot study to determine the awareness of the “One Health” concept among researchers at the headquarters of the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) Vom, Plateau state Nigeria by means of semi structured open/close ended questionnaire. Our findings shows that 60 (90%) of our researchers were aware of the concept. However, only 14 (20%) of our respondents have participated in a “One Health” study while seven (10%) of our respondents had publications related to “One Health” There was an overwhelming willingness to participate in a” One Health”/ multidisciplinary study with 67 (95.7%) indicating such willingness. Our respondent’s highlighted factors recognized as constraints to full integration of the concept and also made recommendations.