Public Health · 2 h ago
Rwandan study identifies community and system barriers to One Health preparedness
A descriptive qualitative study across six Rwandan districts explored factors affecting health-seeking behavior, outbreak preparedness and coordination across human, animal and environmental health. Participants described economic barriers, misinformation, challenges with handwashing and weak intersectoral collaboration.
- Study included 179 participants across six Rwandan districts.
- Economic constraints and misinformation were reported barriers.
- Participants described weak cross-sector coordination.
- Authors call for stronger local coordination and community engagement.
Researchers conducted a descriptive qualitative assessment in six districts of Rwanda in October 2025. The study included 143 participants in focus group discussions and 36 in-depth interviews, with six interviews and two focus groups held in each district. Data were coded thematically, with findings from the two methods compared for convergence.
Reported barriers included economic constraints and the deprioritization of health interventions, weak collaboration between sectors, myths and misinformation associated with vaccine rejection, and difficulties maintaining handwashing. Participants also described community health information being shared through multiple channels. The authors identify district-level coordination and accountability, alongside training community health workers to listen to and engage communities, as potential ways to strengthen One Health integration. These qualitative findings describe perceptions and reported experiences in six districts; they do not measure the effectiveness of proposed interventions or establish how widely the findings apply across Rwanda.
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BMC Public Health: Community barriers, perceptions, and health-seeking behaviors within the one health approach in six priority districts of Rwanda: a descriptive qualitative study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.