Alignment of India's frontline One Health field epidemiology programme with the COHFE framework: a systematic curriculum mapping study.

BACKGROUND

The Competencies for One Health Field Epidemiology (COHFE) framework provides global standards for One Health field epidemiology training. India's National Centre for Disease Control in collaboration with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying developed the Field Epidemiology Programme in One Health (FEP OH), a three-month frontline training program. This study systematically assessed its curriculum alignment with the COHFE framework competencies to identify strengths and gaps.

METHODS

All 448 COHFE frontline competencies across 14 domains were systematically mapped against the FEP OH curriculum materials. Coverage was classified as covered, partially covered, or not covered through expert review and consensus validation involving program faculty and technical experts. Descriptive analyses examined coverage patterns by domain, sector-core category, and competency type.

RESULTS

Overall, 61.3% of competencies had at least some coverage (35.0% covered, 26.3% partially covered). COHFE One Health Core competencies showed strong alignment (82.8% coverage). Technical domains demonstrated variable coverage: data management and biostatistics (95.5%), field investigations (86.5%), surveillance systems (83.3%), and epidemiologic studies (78.8%) showed strong alignment, while ecosystem health (45.2%) and disease management (42.2%) had coverage gaps. Functional domains revealed marked disparities: communication (88.2%) had better coverage than training (20.0%) and ethics (17.1%). Sector-specific competencies showed lower alignment: public health (38.9%), animal health (35.7%), and environment (25.0%) than One Health competencies.

CONCLUSION

This first global assessment of frontline One Health field epidemiology training against the COHFE framework demonstrates strong curriculum alignment of core multisectoral competencies but identifies critical coverage gaps in functional domains and sector-specific competencies. Findings provide an evidence-based roadmap for curriculum enhancement and offer a replicable methodology for other programs seeking to inform curriculum enhancement to support One Health workforce capacity.