Tunisia to host 1st MENA Region "One Health" Conference June 14-15
Tunis – Tunisia is hosting the first MENA Region 'One Health' Conference on June 14 and 15, with the participation of 17 regional countries and 40 high-level officials, including 10 ministers representing health, agriculture, and environment sectors, as well as directors-general, ministry representatives, and UN officials, announced Hechmi Louzir, president of the conference's scientific committee.
The conference will also bring together representatives from international organisations such as the World Bank (the event's funder), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
During a press conference held Thursday at the Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Louzir emphasised that this event presents a key opportunity to enhance regional and international cooperation in tackling emerging pandemics and diseases through a unified approach linking health, environment, and agriculture sectors.
He noted that Tunisia will propose the "Carthage Declaration for One Health," a joint pact between health, agriculture, and environment ministries, which has already been shared with participating countries.
The declaration aims to establish core principles of the "One Health" approach through collective stakeholder engagement.
"The adoption of this declaration by conference participants is expected," he added.
Louzir highlighted that the "One Health" approach has become essential, given that over 70% of human diseases originate from animals.
Hosting this conference in Tunisia will help produce concrete recommendations and develop effective strategies to combat pandemics, he said.
Abderrazek Bouzouita, Director-General of Health at the Ministry of Health, stressed that the "One Health" approach will unify efforts and policies at national, regional, and international levels, especially as climate change and new diseases threaten ecosystems.
He added that the conference aims to strengthen partnerships, **share expertise and produce a joint declaration to implement decisions across sectors.
Wahib Mehri, Director-General of Veterinary Services at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources, emphasised the need for a dedicated structure to ensure coordination between health, agriculture, and environment ministries, enabling real-time data sharing to prevent disease outbreaks.
Mosbah Abaza, Director-General of Sustainable Development at the Ministry of Environment, pointed out the interconnectedness of environmental, agricultural, and health systems, warning that disruptions in one sector can severely impact others.
The ministry plays a key role in "One Health" through wastewater treatment, waste management, and coastal protection initiatives, he said.
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They similarly cite cooperation to bring in aid, but omit Israel's targeted strike that destroyed desperately needed medical supplies; multiple strikes on a hospital during a carefully negotiated medical evacuation; or the 335 bullets fired by Israeli forces into the car from which six-year-old Hind Rajab begged emergency services for rescue. Aid workers spent hours coordinating with the Israeli military to retrieve the child, whose family already lay dead beside her, before both Hind and her paramedic rescuers were killed. What does cooperation mean under these circumstances? Eliding crimes The authors call for cooperation on specific areas of public health - sanitation, hospital infrastructure, water safety, and environmental health - while consistently eliding Israel's unrelenting attacks on each. They avoid directly condemning Israel's repeated violations of international law in these areas, or the increasingly lethal siege that, even last year, saw midwives cutting newborns' umbilical cords with razor blades and tying them off with string from a face mask. The authors include four Israeli doctors and academics, as well as one American former adviser to Israel's Ministry of Health. Not one is Palestinian With no disinfectants, soap or clean water, patients' wounds were left crawling with maggots. It continues: last week, reports circulated on social media that Israel had informed the WHO it was suspending medical coordination for Palestinian boys over the age of 12. Meanwhile, medical evacuations were denied for weeks before Dr Alaa al-Najjar and her surviving child were finally evacuated - along with just 15 other young patients, out of 10,000 in urgent need of evacuation, including more than 4,000 children. So, what is the real purpose of this editorial? A press release from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem makes it plain: it describes the piece as "a strong rebuttal to current calls to isolate Israeli academia and science". It condemns "such boycotts" and "efforts to cut academic ties". Protecting power The editorial's vague reference to "extremist rejection of cooperation and 'normalisation' between Palestinians and Israelis" appears to be a veiled critique of academic boycotts. The boycott called by the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement explicitly targets institutions, not individuals. It is a form of economic and social pressure, inspired by similar academic boycotts of apartheid-era South Africa. And it is a direct response to the complicity of Israeli institutions - from nearly 100 doctors who, in November 2023, publicly called for the bombing of Gaza's hospitals, to the deafening silence, including from the authors of this editorial, as the Israeli military bulldozes every remaining aspect of public health in Gaza. Why is the New England Journal of Medicine promoting 'health bridges' while Gaza's hospitals burn? Read More » The authors of the AJPH editorial include four Israeli doctors and academics, as well as one American former adviser to Israel's Ministry of Health. Not one is Palestinian. Yet the forces driving what they euphemistically call "the tragic example of Gaza" are clear. The overwhelming evidence shows that Israel, with the participation of its healthcare community, has systematically eradicated public health in Gaza. By smoothly evading Israel's unilateral devastation of Gaza's healthcare system - and its literal elimination of those who staff it - the AJPH editorial promotes continued silence among American public health bodies, even as the US actively supports Israel's war. It reads as an attempt to deflect attention from the complicity of Israeli public health in genocide, and to shield Israeli academia from economically significant boycotts and divestment campaigns - even as the world watches 2.3 million people starve before our eyes. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
