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Taking the One Health message to schools

24 November 2022 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Supplied

Thaba Nchu health web new — One Health Warriors with the scholar pledge cloth after scholars made a pledge to take care of their pets at St Paul’s Primary School in Thaba Nchu.

International One Health Day is held annually on 3 November. The goal of the day is to educate and increase awareness of One Health to encourage a collaborative effort between multiple disciplines, promoting the concept that the interactions between humans, animals, and the environment impact the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment.

The aptly named One Health Warriors, a student group comprising postgraduate students from the Division of Virology at the University of the Free State (UFS), was formed in 2016. The One Health Warriors annually participate in arranging a One Health event to celebrate International One Health Day. What is One Health? What zoonotic diseases should the public be aware of? How do zoonoses affect the healthcare provider? These are all questions that the student group addresses in their events.

In 2022, the One Health Warriors targeted scholars to participate in their annual event. It is important for scholars to start learning about One Health from an early age, because most of them do not understand the importance of taking care of their pets. They are not always aware of the diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans and how to protect themselves.

It is for this reason that postgraduate students from the Division of Virology took One Health awareness and science communication to the classrooms of Ratau Primary and St. Pauls Primary schools in Thaba Nchu, Bloemfontein. Grade 6 scholars were included in the events and a total of 224 learners participated in the day.

According to Prof Felicity Burt, an expert in arbovirology in the Division of Virology and the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) – who holds an NRF-DST South African Research Chair in Vector-borne and Zoonotic Pathogens Research – and Tumelo Sekee, PhD student and research assistant in the School of Pathology, they decided to start with primary schools as they believe it is good to start teaching scholars from an early age to take care of their pets and understand the importance of One Health.

Making the youth aware

The focus was on making the youth aware of diseases transmitted from animals to humans, how to protect themselves from zoonotic diseases, and how to take care of their pets. They used role-play activities in which the learners were educated about the risk of contracting the rabies virus and some of the signs that may be shown by rabid dogs. The learners also got to learn about the importance of reporting any bites and getting appropriate treatment from the clinics.

Rabies circulates within this area and is a high risk for children who play with stray dogs. They were advised about vaccines to protect their dogs against infection and thereby protecting themselves. They were shown how to remove ticks from the dogs, and the importance of not eating a dead animal whose cause of death is unknown.

“The children were advised on the potential for tuberculosis (TB bovis) to occur in their livestock and the potential for spread to humans. Pictures were circulated among the learners showing them what a rabid dog or animal might look like and how an animal with TB bovis may present. The learners were taught about the importance of hand washing. In the finale of the event, the learners made a pledge to take care of their pets, and this was confirmed with painted hands on our One Health posters,” says Tumelo Sekee.

According to Prof Burt, One Health is an approach that recognises that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and their shared environment. One Health is not new, but it has become more important in recent years. “This is partly because many factors have influenced the way humans interact with animals (domestic and wild), plants, and our environment. These changes have led to the spread of known (endemic) pathogens and the emergence of novel pathogens and zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that can spread between animals and people. The recent pandemic is an example of how zoonotic transmission of a pathogen from wildlife to humans has a devastating public health impact,” explains Prof Burt.

Positive feedback
Sekee says the feedback was extremely positive; this may be because the communication was done in the learners’ mother tongue, Setswana, which made it easy for them to understand. Says Sekee: “There were many questions and discussions after the play, which suggested that the scholars showed interest in learning about a One Health approach. The scholars were also enthusiastic about participating in future events of the One Health warriors.”

The postgraduate One Health group previously also visited schools in Botshabelo and Bloemfontein, as well as farm workers in Kroonstad. They now plan to visit other schools in the Free State so that the One Health message can reach as many people as possible.

News Archive

Professor launches his book, opposition parties attend

2011-03-22

Prof. Hussein Solomon
Photo: Stephen Collett

“We are good in opposing people, but we’re less good in opposing ideas.” This was how Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS) introduced the book launch of Against all Odds: Opposition Politics in Southern Africa.

The event was hosted in collaboration with the publisher under the title: Are opposition parties in South Africa in a crisis? This formed part of a series of dialogue sessions, organised by the Centre for Africa Studies, in the run up to the local elections.

Amongst those interested who attended the evening in the Senate Hall of the CR Swart Building on the Main Campus were various politicians, students, staff en a panel consisting of academics and the respective provincial representatives of the ANC and DA.

Dr Mcebisi Ndletyana from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), acted as arbiter.

Proff. Hussein Solomon, author of Against all Odds: Opposition Politics in Southern Africa, also lecturer at the UFS, as well as Dirk Kotzé, Head of the Department of Political Science at Unisa, delivered enriching lectures on the stance and positioning of opposition parties.

Prof. Hussein, who spoke first, circumscribed the context of the political climate in the country, based on his book. “The problem that political science encounters is that everybody becomes experts on the internet, while they have no experience of what is happening in South Africa.” He said that when political parties in the country are under discussion, voters often allow myths and/or stereotyping to influence their concept of it. ‘’If there are no opposition parties, there is no democracy and people are deprived of their vote.”

Prof. Kotzé stated in his speech that it was not only opposition parties who had to make the government watch its step, but also the status that the country acquired, amongst others, from its connections, i.e. collaborative agreements such as BRICSA and the country’s inclusion in the G20. He left the audience with a question about how they were going to become involved in politics, and with his rhetoric question referred to options like social networks and movements.

Mr Sibongile Besani, the ANC'S secretary in the Free State, said the DA grew due to it’s swallowing of other parties; something he claims is taking the country backwards. He also described the use of personalities by opposition parties as means of association a weakness. He added that voters will continue voting for the ANC because they can associate themselves with the party’s vision.

In contrast, Mr Roy Jankielsohn, provincial leader of the DA, said voters and parties unite under their core vision for the country as like in the case of the ANC during the liberation struggles.

During the question-and-answer session, which followed after Mr Jankielson’s speech, Prof. Kwandiwe Kondlo, upon completion and summary of the discussions, stated firmly that the opposition parties are in a crisis. “The start of the solution is to recognise the problem. That is why our democracy finds itself in the state in which it is; because the opposition does not fulfil the role that they are supposed to fulfil.“ Prof. Kondlo is the head of the Centre of Africa Studies at the UFS.

He concluded by stating that the economic basis in the country was not transformed. “We cannot say that people determine their futures if they posses nothing. Opposition parties must start to communicate at this level in order to table something new. Our democracy must become more inclusive at political and material level.”

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