Situating zoonotic diseases in peacebuilding and development theories: Prioritizing zoonoses in Jordan

Abstract

Zoonotic diseases are projected to be a serious public threat in the coming decades. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that Jordan prioritize their list of zoonoses, partially in response to the influx of Syrian refugees. We write this paper to expand the One Health framework by situating zoonotic diseases in peacebuilding and development theories in order to prioritize zoonotic diseases in Jordan. We employ an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to create a modified version of the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization (OHZDP) tool. We use an integrative literature review to develop a list of zoonoses to be prioritized. We expand the One Health framework by arguing health inequity is a form of violence, and thus promotion of health equity is a form of peacebuilding. We undertake thematic and statistical analyses to assess the 12 previously published OHZDP tools to evaluate necessity for change to the process given COVID-19 and the refugee situation in Jordan. In these analyses we use drivers of health indicators as measurements for peacebuilding and development, given these drivers are related to health inequities, to guide weighting of the criteria in our tool for Jordan. We apply our modified OHZDP tool to prioritize our disease list. We find it necessary to give socioeconomic factors greater consideration and to distribute weighting more evenly among all criteria within the tool when prioritizing zoonotic diseases in better reflect the Jordanian context and incorporate the refugee population. We find the priority zoonoses within Jordan to be bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, and COVID-19, with most having a disproportionately negative impact on refugees. In Jordan’s case, zoonotic diseases represent an area where promoting social equity for individuals is essential to the larger society. In this sense managing zoonoses is an area uniquely suited for peacebuilding.