The Health Services Academy, working with technical partner Pak One Health Alliance, completed a two-day One Health training workshop for district managers and frontline workers at the Grand Regency Hotel in Islamabad. Conducted under the federally funded PSDP project on One Health Workforce Development and Coordination Towards Pandemic Readiness, the session built practical skills in prevention, detection and response to epidemics and pandemics.
This second cohort trained 32 participants drawn from the District Health Office (DHO–ICT), public and private health facilities, and frontline service providers across the Islamabad Capital Territory. Combined with the first cohort of 35 professionals from human health, animal health and environmental sectors, Islamabad now has 67 trained One Health practitioners strengthening local preparedness.
Participants included Medical Officers, Sanitary Workers, Allied Health Professionals and other key frontline personnel. The One Health training emphasised core operational areas such as epidemiology of infectious diseases, infection prevention and control, outbreak investigation and response, Rapid Response Team functions, One Health risk analysis, and integrated surveillance and epidemic intelligence systems.
Through interactive lectures, group exercises and expert-led discussions, trainees practised identifying early warning signals, coordinating multi‑sectoral responses and operationalising integrated surveillance across human, animal and environmental health domains. The practical focus aimed to make district and community-level systems more responsive and interconnected.
The concluding session saw participants reaffirm a collective commitment to apply One Health principles in their daily work, reinforcing Islamabad’s position as a model district for pandemic readiness. The training series forms part of a broader effort to translate lessons from COVID-19 into sustainable systems for early detection, rapid response and prevention of health emergencies before they escalate into national crises.
Good job by HSA and its Technical partner POHA for promoting & implementing One Health Concept in Pakistan.