How Libya Is Building a Stronger One Health System
Picture a warm September morning in Tripoli. Around a table, veterinarians, epidemiologists, environmental officers, and ministry leaders lean over large sheets of paper covered in markers, sticky notes, and arrows. Some build “influence towers” out of Lego bricks to show which organizations hold power. Others debate how information really moves during a zoonotic outbreak.
This is not a simulation. This is Libya’s first multisectoral One Health consultation—an attempt to map, honestly and transparently, how human, animal, and environmental health actors work together (or don’t) during crises.
And after years of political instability, economic strain, climate pressure, and cross-border disease risks, Libya’s One Health governance system needed this hard look.
A new study published in Frontiers in Public Health documents what emerged from those conversations: a health security system that is surprisingly cohesive in structure—but siloed in practice—and ready for transformation.
Why This Matters Now
Zoonotic spillover is accelerating. Climate change is shifting disease vectors. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to rise across the Eastern Mediterranean. And fragile states—where surveillance and coordination are most strained—face disproportionate risk. Libya sits at the intersection of these pressures:
- A major migration corridor
- A climate-vulnerable Mediterranean hub
- A nation with fragmented governance
- A place where human, animal, and environmental hazards regularly overlap
In this context, the One Health approach is a national necessity.
The Study: Mapping Libya’s Health Power Grid
Researchers used a mixed-methods design that combined:
- Net-Map participatory workshops (where stakeholders drew real power and communication structures)
- Social network analysis (SNA) using R
- A full SWOT analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
Forty-two experts from 11 core institutions participated, including the Ministry of Health (MoH), National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), National Center for Animal Health (NCAH), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Environment (MoE), Food and Drug Control Center (FDCC), and others. fpubh-13-1651901
Their task: see who really talks to whom when Libya faces a health threat.
Key Insight #1: The Network Is Tightly Connected, But Functionally Siloed
The team identified 102 connections among 11 central institutions. Reciprocity was high (0.857), showing a strong willingness to exchange information. The average path length—just 2.05 steps—means information can travel quickly. But the system naturally divides into three clusters:
1. The Operational One Health Interface
NCDC, NCAH, MoE, Environmental Sanitation Affairs (ESA) → These are the boots-on-the-ground responders.
2. Agriculture & Livestock Governance Cluster
MoA, FAO, WOAH, Ministry of Local Government → The sector closest to zoonotic spillover and cross-border animal movement.
3. Public Health & Regulatory Cluster
MoH, FDCC, WHO → The policy, regulatory, and human health oversight entities.
What’s missing? Cross-cluster collaboration. The groups work well internally—but not enough with each other. This is one of the clearest barriers to effective One Health governance.
Key Insight #2: One Institution Quietly Holds the System Together
The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) emerges as the surprising backbone of the One Health network.
Using betweenness centrality—a measure of who acts as a broker—MoA scored 0.334, making it the most important bridge between health, agriculture, and international actors. MoA is the institution that connects:
- animal health to human health
- agriculture to public health
- national agencies to FAO and WOAH
- local authorities to central bodies
In contrast, some international partners (FAO, WOAH) were structurally peripheral, meaning they support—but do not drive—national coordination.
Key Insight #3: Strong Centers, Weak Edges
NCDC and NCAH were the strongest hubs in the network, with weighted degrees of 128 and 96, respectively. This means they are highly active in coordination, surveillance, capacity building, and advocacy. But this strength comes with a risk. A hub-and-spoke network—common in fragile contexts—moves fast but is fragile:
If NCDC falters, the system could fragment.
Decentralized capacity remains limited, local reporting is inconsistent, and coordination outside Tripoli is weak—challenges echoed in the SWOT analysis.
What This Means in Practice
For Ministries of Health and Agriculture
- Formalize MoA’s role as a national connector between animal and human health.
- Incentivize cross-cluster planning, not just siloed technical work.
For National Public Health Institutes
- Build redundancy so surveillance doesn’t depend solely on NCDC.
- Expand decentralized capacity, especially for AMR and climate-driven hazards.
For Local Governments
- Strengthen reporting pathways into national systems.
- Train frontline officials in One Health basics and outbreak communication.
For International Organizations
- Support Libya’s shift from external facilitation to national ownership.
- Embed One Health governance into climate and migration programming.
Barriers to Progress
Despite strong technical expertise and existing legislation, Libya faces several constraints:
- Political instability delays cross-sector planning.
- Limited funding restricts joint activities.
- Overlapping mandates create confusion and duplication.
- Weak decentralized infrastructure slows reporting during crises.
- Threats from migration, climate change, and AMR increase pressure on already fragile systems.
These are not unique to Libya, but the Libyan data make them impossible to ignore.
A Rare Achievement: A National One Health MoU
One of the strongest outcomes of this process is that the study did not just diagnose the problem—it changed national policy.
The findings directly informed Libya’s first National One Health Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by the MoH, MoA, MoE, MoLG, and FDCC, and endorsed by the NCDC and NCAH. The MoU commits Libya to:
- joint epidemic surveillance
- AMR containment
- food safety coordination
- climate-health integration
- data sharing
- joint simulation exercises
It is a concrete step toward sustainable, multisectoral One Health governance—a model other fragile states can learn from.
What’s Next for Libya—and for Us?
This study offers a roadmap not just for Libya, but for any country navigating health security with limited resources and complex governance. Three big questions remain:
- How will Libya sustain the MoU amid political instability?
- Can decentralized institutions be empowered to match central capacity?
- What new cross-cluster mechanisms are needed as climate change accelerates?
These questions matter far beyond Libya’s borders.
Call to Action
For public health practitioners, global health researchers, and policymakers:
- How might your agency use similar network mapping to identify hidden strengths—or blind spots?
- What cross-sector relationships could you strengthen now, before the next crisis?
- Does Libya’s experience challenge your assumptions about governance in fragile states?
The real story of One Health governance isn’t about frameworks. It’s about relationships—and this study shows how powerful it can be to map those relationships.
