Advocacy for neglected zoonotic diseases (ADVANZ) is a One Health Neglected Zoonotic Diseases (NZD) project, funded by the European Commission through its 7th framework programme. Zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses, are diseases that are naturally transmitted from animals to humans and vice-versa. The term “neglected” highlights that diseases affect mainly poor and marginalized populations in low-resource settings. The World Health Organization has acknowledged that several zoonotic diseases merit special attention; the NZD among the17 identified Neglected Tropical Diseases are: rabies, echinococcosis, and taeniasis/cysticercosis. Five other diseases have also been declared neglected, i.e. brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis, anthrax, human African trypanosomiasis, and leishmaniasis. The best strategic approach to transmission control and management of these diseases involves integrated One Health and EcoHealth approaches. We need to involve both the public health sector, the veterinary and environmental sciences and finally, but most importantly for achieving reduced disease burden: we need the cooperation of the communities where the people at risk are living.

The aim of ADVANZ is to persuade decision makers and empower stakeholders at local, regional, and international levels towards a coordinated fight against NZD. ADVANZ is in the process of establishing an African platform to share experiences in the prevention and control of NZD. The platform will compile and package existing knowledge or data on NZD and generate evidence-based algorithms for improving surveillance and control with the ultimate aim to eliminate and eradicate these diseases. The platform will serve as a forum for African and international stakeholders, as well as existing One Health, EcoHealth and NZD networks and harness and consolidate their efforts in the control and prevention of NZD. The platform had its first meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa in March 2013.