Health
A healthy population is a prerequisite for development, as only healthy societies can be productive and innovative. Throughout their development process societies undergo the so-called epidemiological transition, which entails a shifting burden of disease from infectious diseases to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). As a result, many countries are facing a double burden of disease, meaning that infectious diseases are still highly prevalent while NCDs are rapidly expanding. It is, therefore, necessary to promote health and prevent diseases, by employing both pathogenic and salutogenic approaches to health. On the one hand, understanding and tackling the social (and economic) determinants of health and on the other hand building surveillance, diagnostic and treatment capacities.
At ZEF, integrated (and interdisciplinary) health approaches, such as the One Health approach, are being utilized to understand the complexities of health and disease at the interface between humans, animals and the environment. Particularly our shared environment is understood as health determinant as well as a place of intervention. In the transdisciplinary “One Health and Urban Transformation” graduate school, ZEF is working with its partners in Brazil, Ghana and India to identify risks at the human-animal-environment nexus and develop interventions to achieve optimal health for all.
Village in India. Malaria and undernutrition are two of the biggest public health challenges in rural parts of India.
Public school in rural India.Targeting public health challenges in India requires collaborative and transdisciplinary research intiatives, such as those started by ZEF.
Street in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One Health research at ZEF has been looking into the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health.
ZEF Projects related to "Health"
Changemaker – Promoting co-designed sustainable health interventions with young changemakers for reduced risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in urban Burkina Faso, Kenya and Tanzania
ClimapAfrica – Climate change adaptation and coping strategies of smallholder fisherfolks along the Ghana Volta Lake
Climate-sensitive nutrients, undernutrition and malaria
Game-theoretic approach of modelling and estimating the impact of human migration behaviour on malaria endemicity in Sub-Saharan Africa
HealthyDiets4Africa – Combating malnutrition in Africa through diversification of the food system
KliOL – Climate Change mitigation in Hospitals by Optimizing Supply Chains
LANUSYNCON - At the Science Policy Interface: LANd Use SYNergies and CONflicts within the framework of the 2030 Agenda
Malabo Montpellier Panel
Multi-center, prospective cohort study in Ghana on early-life exposure to malaria and nutrition-related non-communicable diseases in adult life
OPTIMA – Omics Approach for Personalized Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus for African and European Populations
RODAM – Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants
Sustainable dietary weight loss intervention for the prevention of type 2 diabetes: A family-based, randomised, controlled trial with overweight and obese adults in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso