Public health education key to achieving UHC — NOUN Don

She further stated that the One Health approach and by extension, the UHC, which emphasises the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, cannot succeed unless it is anchored in robust and widespread public health education.

Ibrahim Sheme, Director, Media and Publicity, NOUN, in a statement, noted that Prof. Anetor made the observation in the 33rd inaugural lecture of the NOUN she delivered at the university’s headquarters in Abuja.

In the lecture, titled: “Achieving the One Health Concept: A Mirage Without Public Health Education,” she called public health education the “front row” of any national health strategy and warned that neglecting it leaves a dangerous gap in global health preparedness.

She criticised the under-recognition of health educators and called for greater investment in school-based programmes, graduate studies, and community-led initiatives.

“Health educators are not just messengers. They are translators of complex health information into life-saving community programs,” she said.

Prof. Anetor noted that public health and health education are two sides of the same coin, and without equipping populations with the knowledge and behaviours that promote wellness, the entire One Health framework might collapse. “We can not look at human health in isolation; a healthy environment and healthy animals are inseparable from healthy humans,” she added.

She further stressed that health education is not merely about awareness but about behavioural change, especially in addressing lifestyle-related conditions like cancer and stroke. “Tackling health issues in Nigeria, she argued, requires a holistic, multisectoral collaboration.”

Prof. Anetor identified pollution, poor waste management, and climate change as factors that not only degrade the environment, but also create breeding grounds for disease vectors, adding that public health education programmes empower communities to protect water sources, reduce toxic waste, and advocate for sustainable agriculture.

To address these One Health challenges, she called for livestock vaccination programmes and better sanitation around abattoirs, urging cooperative health initiatives involving veterinarians and human healthcare workers.

She also called on policymakers to embed public health education within national health and environmental strategies to foster a unified approach, as One Health demands policy coherence across ministries of health, environment, agriculture, and education.

She said: “One health is not just a theory. It is a blueprint for survival in an increasingly interconnected world. And without public health education, that blueprint is incomplete.”

Earlier in his address, the Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Olufemi Peters commended the Faculty of Health Sciences and noted the collaboration across disciplines in NOUN, particularly between the Faculties of Health Sciences and Education, as a testament to the university’s interdisciplinary spirit.

The VC appreciated Prof. Anetor’s scholarly achievements, describing her as a product of tenacity, resilience, and intellectual rigour.