WHO and the ISS will join forces to strengthen Libya’s national response to zoonotic infections, i.e. those transmitted from animals to humans, with particular attention to those with endemic or pandemic potential, and to arboviruses, i.e. those transmitted by arthropods (mosquitoes, ticks and sandflies). This is the objective of the project entitled “Arboviral and zoonotic diseases in Libya“, signed today at the headquarters of the Institute by the President of the ISS Prof. Rocco Bellantone and the WHO Representative in Libya Dr. Ahmed Zouiten. The initiative, which will a rigorous ‘One Health’ perspective will last two years, and is financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Aics) of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Maeci), for a budget of 675 thousand euros .
“Zoonotic infections are one of the most serious threats to public health, as the pandemic has sadly taught us, and it is important that all countries are able to face this risk with a ‘One Health’ approach, which brings together the health of man and the environment – commented the president of the ISS Rocco Bellantone –. The Institute is always ready to share its skills wherever necessary, with a view to collaboration that has been part of the ISS’s vocation since its origins.”
WHO and ISS will pool their respective expertise, know-how, experience and operational tools. The local partners of the project will be the Libyan National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) of the Ministry of Health, the National Center for Animal Health (NCAH) which is the country’s national veterinary authority, under the Ministry of Agriculture, of animals and marine resources and the Ministry of the Environment. In particular, the Institute will deal with the component of continuous development and strengthening of capabilities for the quality of performance of public health, epidemiologist and laboratory personnel, as regards the technical, managerial, rapid response and coordination aspects. The main objectives of the intervention are to strengthen intersectoral cooperation between the various operators dealing with animal, human and environmental health; improve the capacity for surveillance and early detection of zoonoses; strengthen the diagnostic capabilities of laboratories also with reference to new pathogens.
“The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation is working hard to achieve sustainable development goal number 3 of the 2030 Agenda – Ensuring a healthy life and promoting well-being for all ages. – commented Marco Riccardo Rusconi, Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation -. The initiative that we are launching today in Libya, a country in which the Italian Cooperation is very active and structured, is a first step in a process of supporting Libyan institutions and services with excellences of the Italian System, such as the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. With WHO and ISS we are in fact accompanying our Libyan partners in strengthening the capacities of local staff, according to a multidisciplinary model focused on the needs of the most vulnerable populations and taking into account the relationship between the health of people, their animals and the environment in which they live.”