Vector borne diseases like Japanese Encephalitis (JE) result from the convergence of multiple factors, including, but not limited to, human, animal, environmental, and economic and social determinants. Thus, to combat these problems, it is essential to have a systematic understanding of drivers and determinants based on a surveillance system that systematically gathers and analyzes data emanating from across multiple disciplines. In India, where surveillance is primarily driven by a disease-driven approach, there is growing recognition of the need for a transdisciplinary framework for surveillance, but it has never been operationally formalized. A health system overly focused on human health outcomes, a policy environment that does not encourage transdisciplinary dialogue, a lack of capacity across sectors, and a surveillance system that fails to capture the breadth of data needed for an integrated, collaborative effort have stood as hurdles in operationalizing a OneHealth Surveillance mechanism in the Indian context.
A multidisciplinary team of JE experts, representing epidemiology, human health, veterinary public health, microbiology, GIS, social sciences, and entomology, was assembled to develop a conceptual framework. Literature reviews were conducted to fine tune the conceptual framework. A collaborative and iterative process was adopted to determine the datapoints that needed to be developed. This was further supported by exploratory formative research. Domains of inquiry were identified across disciplines through this process. Data points to address these domains through in-depth studying was developed using a transdisciplinary approach.