Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025402 (Poster 140) | Published: 06 Aug 2025
Emmanuel Ifechukwude Benyeogor1
¹Interfaculty Initiative for Planetary Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
&Corresponding author: Emmanuel Ifechukwude Benyeogor, Interfaculty Initiative for Planetary Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan. Email: emmanuelbenyeogor@tlhouse.org
Received: 02 May 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 06 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa fever, planetary health, systemic innovation, climate-sensitive diseases, Nigeria, health-environment interactions, nature-based solutions, governance
©Emmanuel Ifechukwude Benyeogor et al Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Emmanuel Ifechukwude Benyeogor et al Planetary Health Design Lab (PHDL): A Systems Innovation Platform to Address Climate-Sensitive Zoonoses in Nigeria. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00284. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00284
Lassa fever, a climate-sensitive zoonotic disease endemic to West Africa, continues to challenge Nigeria’s health system due to environmental disruption, inadequate early warning mechanisms, and fragmented multi-sectoral governance. Between 2019 and 2024, Nigeria recorded over 5,000 confirmed cases, with case fatality ratios ranging from 15% to 20% in high-burden areas.
This concept proposes the Planetary Health Design Lab (PHDL) as a systems innovation platform for integrating ecological and health data to address climate-sensitive zoonoses. The framework is designed to incorporate scenario modeling, spatial prioritization, and participatory systems mapping to co-create context-specific interventions. The proposed approach seeks to adapt decision-support systems for planetary health governance in LMICs. The conceptual model will be piloted using Nigeria as a case study, focusing on Lassa fever, with potential for international adaptation through future collaborations.
Early application of the PHDL in Nigeria demonstrates its potential to: (1) strengthen health and environment collaboration, (2) guide anticipatory interventions in Lassa fever hotspots, and (3) connect planetary health research with global technical partners. Cross-country partnerships in Japan and Canada offer complementary decision-support frameworks, including forest sector modeling and cumulative effects tools, adaptable to LMIC contexts.
The PHDL offers a transdisciplinary, locally embedded, and globally networked innovation ecosystem for addressing Lassa fever and similar health risks at the human–nature interface. By institutionalizing systems thinking and nature-based governance, the lab supports sustainable epidemic preparedness and planetary health equity.
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