As quoted in the Lancet in December 2012, endemic and enzootic zoonoses cause about a billion cases of illness and millions of death in people every year. Diseases such as anthrax, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, cysticercosis, echinococcosis (hydatid disease) and rabies are considered ”neglected” because they are not adequately addressed nationally and internationally. The World Health Organization use the term Neglected Zoonotic Diseases (NZDs) that groups a number of endemic zoonoses. While the etiology of these diseases may be varied, the interventions to prevent and control them especially at community level are very similar. Furthermore many of the endemic zoonoses are closely linked to poverty and the lack of basic infrastructure such as related to water and sanitation. Interventions that include engaging communities, creating public awareness and enhancing basic conditions such as hygiene and biosecurity can have an important effect on reducing the risks of transmission. In addition some of the endemic zoonotic diseases can be controlled by interventions such as mass vaccination (e.g rabies), treatment (echinococcosis) and/or changing practices (most). The need for political will and resources are further requirements to control endemic zoonotic diseases. Neglected zoonotic diseases are not neglectable due to their considerable impact on the lives and livelihoods especially for poor and marginalized populations. Although the One Health approach initially concentrated on addressing emerging zoonotic diseases and especially pandemic threats, the One Health approach is gaining recognition for addressing endemic/neglected zoonotic diseases as they arise from infections transmitted from domesticated (livestock or companion) or wild animals to people.
In 2009 the European Commission through its 7th framework programme awarded the ICONZ project (http://www.iconzafrica.org) for a period of 5 years to improve human health and animal production in developing countries through the integrated control of neglected zoonoses in animals, based on scientific innovation and public engagement. While the project initially concentrated on Africa the approaches used and findings generated could also find their application/adaptation in the Asian context. Other related projects as the One Health Next Generation (OH-NEXTGEN, http://www.oh-nextgen.eu/) envisages to become a unique and sustainable web-based training programme in neglected zoonotic diseases based on the “One Health” concept to contribute to research development and improved control of zoonoses in Africa. Furthermore the ADVANZ
(Advocacy for Neglected Zoonotic Diseases: http://www.advanz.org/) project aims at persuading decision makers and empower stakeholders at local, regional, and international levels towards a coordinated fight against neglected zoonotic diseases (NZD), first and foremost in Africa, where the burden from NZD are heaviest. These and other initiatives, projects and new approaches (including the progressive control pathway towards rabies elimination and the Cysticercosis Working Group in East and southern Africa (CWGESA) will be presented and discussed with the audience in a highly interactive way by using the “World Café” (http://www.kstoolkit.org/The+World+Cafe) format.


2. Objectives
a. Present the approaches and findings of the different projects/initiatives on neglected zoonoses with special reference to adopting the One Health approach
b. Discuss and share experiences between the projects, initiatives, new approaches in other continents and within other contexts
c. Identify options for future collaboration and synergies with other present, past and future initiatives worldwide
d. Advocate for the use of One Health in addressing neglected zoonotic diseases



3. Potential moderator / speakers / panelists
Moderators: Katinka de Balogh (FAO) Katinka.debalogh@fao.org

Presenters:
1. Sue Welburn (ICONZ-Africa) sue.welburn@ed.ac.uk
2. Ana Okello (ICONZ-Asia) via sue.welburn@ed.ac.uk
3. Christopher Saarnak (ADVANZ) cls@sund.ku.dk
4. Tanguy Marcotty (OHNEXT-GEN) tmarcotty@itg.be
5. Samson Mukaratirwa (CWGESA) Mukaratirwa@ukzn.ac.za
6. Carolyn Benigno (Progressive control pathway towards disease elimination) carolyn.benigno@fao.org



4. Format and structure
1. Opening remarks and introduction by the coordinator (10 min)
2. Each of project tables provides a short plenary introduction (6X 5 minutes = 30 minutes)
3. Rounds at each table 15 minutes 6 x 15 minutes (90 minutes)
4. Break (20 minutes)
5. Plenary discussion 30 minutes