Document(s) 4 of 7

Dr Ulisses Confalonieri
National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Dr Suzana Padua
Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute for Ecological Research), Brazil

The International EcoHealth Forum (IEF 2008) sparked formal collaboration between three Brazilian institutions. The Brazilian consortium—the Institute for Ecological Research (IPE), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny of the University of São Paolo (USP)— joined as one in the various committees that organized and implemented the Forum.

The partnerships of the Brazilian consortium grew out of individual contacts, based on their common research goals, compatible with ecohealth approaches.

"In Latin America, very often many things can start with personal relationships," said Dr. Ulisses Confalonieri, professor at the National School of Public Health at FIOCRUZ. The Brazilian consortium shared "a common interest in conservation medicine."

Broadly speaking, "since the three pillars of conservation medicine are human health, ecological health, and animal health, we had to put together these three institutions,” Dr Confalonieri said. FIOCRUZ focuses on human health, USP—Veterinary Faculty on the health of fauna, and IPE on ecosystems and the sustainable balance between human and wildlife, said Dr. Suzana Padua, president of IPE.

To extend their partnership beyond the Forum, the Brazilian consortium is preparing a publication to "synthesize the theories and practices of ecohealth and conservation management," Dr Confalonieri said. Contributing authors will attend a workshop to share and discuss drafts. Participants will also "put our strengths together to ensure an impact at the national level in Brazil" Dr Padua said.

For Dr Confalonieri, a goal of the publication, other than integrating these different aspects of the ecohealth themes for dissemination, is to "consolidate strategic people and institutions in a national network." In fact, this writing project will provide the opportunity to discuss the basis of the partnerships, and help plan how to ensure the sustainability of joint activities. "This is more important than the book itself," said Dr Padua.

Partnerships ensure dialogue across disciplines, helping to highlight certain interfaces such as animal health issues and public health.

Partnerships raise awareness on the need to integrate the understanding of complex issues addressed by ecohealth research. "People lack an understanding of the complexity that’s involved—they see only the consequences [such as disease outbreaks], but they lack understanding of the causes," Dr Padua said. 

Finally, partnerships can better influence policy-makers. The collaboration between different established Brazilian institutions recognized in their own field "makes our argument stronger when we speak to decision-makers" Dr Padua said.

Institute for Ecological Research, Brazil
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Brazil
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny of the University of São Paolo (USP), Brazil

Document(s) 4 of 7