Global Solutions to Regional Challenges: Bridging the One Health Divide in the Caribbean

Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, located on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts in the West Indies, hosted a multi-national, transdisciplinary One Health conference in St. Kitts and Nevis. Historically the many countries of the Caribbean carry a high burden of chronic and infectious disease and struggle with complex economic and developmental issues that continuously pressurize inhabitants and their natural environment. Considering these vast regional challenges, presentations covered diverse topics including community-based approaches for zoonotic disease control and prevention and mitigation of problems at the interface of wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. In two workshops the participants suggested a framework for practicing One Health in the Caribbean that emphasized capacity building and sustainability. Four structural components to the One Health paradigm were discussed including: identification of common problems, the necessity of comprehensive needs assessment, regional mobilization of resources, and building trust among all One Health stakeholders and the public.