Implementation science is the study of transferring evidence-based interventions (EBIs) into real-world practice. Implementation science focuses on how implementors in a community can incorporate new ideas and practices to increase health equity in that community. The majority of research in the global health field relates to improving health equity through EBIs.

Often, the most difficult part of global health is introducing these new practices into the communities that need them. For example, wet markets and wild animal markets are known to be breeding grounds for deadly viruses in rural communities. These markets, however, are central to how such communities function, and their value is ingrained in the local culture. Implementation science tries to find how to solve issues such as sanitation and regulation, without stifling the open and free culture that developed in many of these markets.

Implementation science also ensures greater accountability for public health research. Oftentimes, just proving the EBI is effective is enough to publish it, but rarely do people take the time to figure out if and how they can implement the EBI into the target community. This field of study looks at what the needs are, and prioritizes any gaps that the stakeholders feel are meaningful to them so that these practices can become widely adopted.

As habitat destruction forces more and more animals into human spaces, animal diseases are spreading to humans more than ever before, ushering in the need to develop interdisciplinary strategies to combat rising zoonotic diseases. Countries around the world have attempted to develop a One Health strategic plan to meet their human, animal, and environmental health challenges because of the way this approach can synergize multiple sectors that once had limited communication, allowing for the creation of evidence-based solutions to increase overall country health.

Rwanda is able to establish a One Health approach to solving its health issues because of its elaborate network of community health workers, existing rapid response teams, international academic partnerships, and relative equity between female and male health professionals. However, Rwanda has faced some issues that allow these EBIs to be fully put into practice such as competition over budget, poor communication, and the need for improved technology (Nyatanyi et al., 2017).

Australia has also faced similar challenges that prevent One Health EBIs from being utilized to their greatest capacity. Without interdisciplinary training of medical and veterinary staff in One Health principles or a formal governing body in each sector to overcome longstanding barriers in communication and distrust, Australia has a long way to go to set up a nationwide system for zoonoses response (Johnson et al., 2017).

This then is why increased development of One Health implementation science is paramount to keep up with the rate of zoonosis emergence today.