Three MUST PhD students in One Health are currently in Norway, studying at the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) as part of an exchange programme. They join four students from Ethiopia to research ways to prevent future pandemics.

According to UiT, key measures to prevent transmission include preventing transmission from animals to humans, water purification, and waste management. This is crucial as African countries are susceptible to outbreaks like Ebola, Mpox, and Marburg virus, which can threaten public health and societal development. 

The main causes of these outbreaks are high population growth, urbanization, agricultural growth, and rapid environmental changes, leading to increased contact between wild animals and humans, potentially spreading zoonotic diseases globally, as seen with COVID-19. 

By addressing these factors, the students aim to find solutions to mitigate disease transmission and protect public health. They are exploring how to detect, monitor, report diseases, and develop guidelines for preventing zoonotic diseases (transmitted from animals to humans). Their research focuses on Ethiopia and Malawi.

UiT's One Health project, in collaboration with MUST and Addis Ababa University, aims to build expertise on effective disease prevention and control.

One of the PhD students and a lecturer at MUST, Richard Mvula, says the exchange programme has opened their eyes to new realms of knowledge. “It is a good way of learning. I wish many postgraduate programmes incorporated this element in their programming. Imagine having colleagues from Ethiopia and Norway sharing challenges and finding solutions together,” said Mvula.

This global collaboration seeks innovative solutions for managing health risks worldwide.