Implementing one health in Palestine: Mapping ministerial mechanisms for pandemic preparedness, zoonotic disease control, and inter-sectoral collaboration

Each year, zoonotic infections result in millions of deaths globally. In Palestine, economic constraints and political instability are challenges that obstruct the management of zoonotic diseases. The main goal of the article is to enhance the preparedness and response capabilities for future health emergencies and pandemics, with zoonotic diseases as a prime example, in Palestine, by adopting the One Health approach. A mixed-method study design was used to meet the study objectives. The quantitative aspect, included two phases: first, an expert survey was conducted to prioritize a list of the most important zoonotic pathogens of national importance in Palestine, followed by a multi-stakeholders group discussion that determined the highest priority zoonotic diseases using a 5-criteria quantitative tool. For the qualitative aspect, we conducted a transdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder group discussion to map the ministerial mechanisms for managing zoonotic diseases. As main findings we identified 43 reported zoonotic diseases, 23 of which were high priority. In addition, this research highlighted key gaps in the existing infrastructure, which are lack of regular screening, weak passive surveillance, irregular health education, weaknesses in communication and follow-up, and limited preparedness for epidemics and pandemics. The One Health approach offers a potential incremental benefit in terms of reducing time to detection, reduction of exposure and cumulative societal cost of outbreaks. It is a promising strategy to bridge the gap between various sectors and lay the groundwork for sustainable and effective management of zoonotic diseases.