AVSBN 2017

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FAVA collaborated with Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University  and Veterinary Council of Thailand cooperated with The Associations of Thai Veterinary Professional and International Organizations  hosting  the Workshop on ASEAN Veterinary Statutory Body Network’s Strategic Plan 2018-2020  (AVSBN 2017)

 

 

The Workshop on ASEAN Veterinary Statutory Body Network’s Strategic Plan 2018-2020 (AVSBN 2017)  was  held during  9th – 11th August, 2017  at Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok and Veterinary Council of Thailand, Nonthaburi, Thailand.  In this regards, this workshop has coordinated with Department of Livestock Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Royal Thai Government , Thai Veterinary Medical Association under royal patronage (TVMA), Thailand Veterinary Dean Consortium (TVDC), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and Federation of Asian Veterinary Associations (FAVA) and supported by the Innovative Thai-ASEAN Academic Co-operation at  Chulalongkorn University (ITAAC@CU).

 

 

The workshop features as one of flagship projects of the faculty to celebrating the ASEAN Week. The workshop was the continuous activity in a series of  veterinary forum conference which was aimed on  brainstorming, discussion, harmonization  and integration for Veterinary Statutory Body, chaired  by  Prof. Dr. Achariya Sailasuta, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University and Vice-President of Veterinary Council of Thailand. Participants of the workshop are  consisted of the representatives of the Veterinary Statutory body (VSB), VSB equivalent organization/ relevant institution of  9 ASEAN member states; Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand, academic institutions, various veterinary associations, private sectors  as well as the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council, Inc, AVBC.

 

 

The workshop focuses on initiating the progress of ASEAN Veterinary Statutory Body Network. In addition, the workshop  has  also invited the keynote speakers include professional expertises from OIE, executive directors from AVBC and international laws expert, to disseminate and acquaint veterinarian in mutual understanding roles and regulations,  sustainable implement by ASEAN country-level for the Veterinary Code of conduct.  That conducts  the discussion and publish to the regional veterinary meeting/forum in order to identify more feasible approach and conform the developments,  will propelling ASEAN veterinary regulations towards Veterinary Act in the near future. This initiative is noteworthy that all participants actively contributed in sharing their experiences, challenges and recommendations for initiating VSB of  ASEAN member’s countries. The agenda of the related meeting included the progress on Term of Reference of ASEAN Veterinary Statutory Body Network (AVSBN), also brain storming on setting up the Strategic plans in 2018-2020. This actual implementation will facilitate a significant progress toward the veterinary professional responsibility in  ASEAN. Which will be coordinated by  Veterinary Council of Thailand, the 1st Chair of AVSBN for 2018  on  step forward of  the formal establishment of the movement of skill labors trading ASEAN Community in this nearly future.

 

Animal Welfare a major focus as the World’s veterinarians meet in Korea

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Animal Welfare a major focus as the World’s veterinarians meet in Korea

PRESS RELEASE

The World Veterinary Association (WVA) with Ceva Santé Animale (Ceva) recognize 6 outstanding veterinarians for their commitment to promoting the welfare of Animals

On 29th August 2017, during the 33rd World Veterinary Congress in Incheon, Korea, the 1st WVA Global Animal Welfare Awards co-founded and supported by Ceva Santé Animale was given to six veterinarians representing each of the six WVA world regions.

The WVA Animal Welfare Awards recognize and reward veterinarians who have provided outstanding and exemplary welfare-related services to animal owners, hostels, fellow veterinarians, and the public.

The 6 winners of the WVA AW 2017 Award are:

Dr Joseph Othieno from Kenya
Dr Othieno has raised awareness of animal health issues in Kenya and on a wider scale through his journalism. As well as being a respected veterinarian, he regularly writes articles on a series of veterinary issues in the mass media including appearances on television. A short video on Dr Othieno activities can be found here.

Dr Sean Wensley from the UK
Dr Wensley has concentrated much of his professional life on the issue of animal welfare. He worked on various international welfare projects as a young volunteer veterinarian. He is currently Senior Vice President of the British Veterinary Association and has been active in promoting that organisation’s strategy on animal welfare and promoting the five key factors in the UK’s Animal Welfare regulations. A short video on Dr Wensley activities can be found here.

Dr Marlyn Romero from Colombia
Dr Romero was nominated for the Awards following her work in Colombia and Latin America on the research into animal welfare issues particularly in slaughterhouses. She has authored numerous publications on the subject and is leading a research group looking at animal welfare on the theme of ‘One Health’. A short video on Dr Romero activities can be found here.

Dr Daniel Ventura from the Philippines
Dr Ventura is cited for his work in promoting animal health in his home country, particularly in the field of veterinary education and spearheading a steering committee that has promoted the adoption of a syllabus entitled ’Advanced Concepts in Animal Welfare’. He has also led a campaign called ‘Better Lives for Dogs’ and recently organised a mass rabies vaccination day for dogs and their owners in Cebu City, Philippines. A short video on Dr Ventura activities can be found here.

Professor Johann (Hans) Coetzee from USA
Prof Coetzee has been active in the animal welfare area for many years particularly in the area of cattle where he has led research looking at ways of advancing methods to treat livestock better. Key examples of his work include co-founding the biannual International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare. He has also been involved in work looking at the subject of pain management issues in the production of farm animals and has been a regular commentator in the media on these subjects. A short video on Dr Coetzee activities can be found here.

Dr Shehab Osman from Egypt
Dr Osman was nominated for his work as Chairman of the Cairo Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and for promoting a variety of animal welfare issues in his country and on the international scene. He also advises Egyptian government departments and the health authorities on a number of areas including the management of stray dogs which is a huge problem in Egypt. He also acted as Chairman of the Egyptian Federation for Animal Welfare for four years. A short video on Dr Osman activities can be found here.

Presiding over the Awards ceremony were Dr. René Carlson, Immediate Past President of WVA and Dr. Marc Prikazsky, Chairman & CEO of Ceva said;

René Carlson: I am delighted and honored to present here today the 2017 WVA Animal Welfare Awards to 6 remarkable veterinarians from across the world, who are contributing in their daily lives to the protection and welfare of various species of animals. In addition, these individuals provide information to the public about animal welfare best practices.

Marc Prikazsky: The Welfare of Animals is today a primary concern for many people across the world. As our approach to the wellbeing of animals continues to evolve, so too must the education and the role of the veterinary community change, to reflect its commitment to animal welfare and to become a true advocate and leader in this field. As a veterinarian, I am very proud that Ceva has been able to support the WVA in establishing these awards and would like to congratulate each of the individual winners on their immense contribution to improving the welfare of animals.

International Buffalo Symposium 2017

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The Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) is a newly established national University of Nepal. It was established in 2010 with the motto of overall development of agriculture, livestock and forestry through quality teaching, research and extension. The mission of AFU is to produce internationally competent human resource to promote education, research and development in agriculture, livestock, forestry and allied disciplines. There are three academic faculties and biotechnology center under AFU. The academic faculty includes Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Animal Science, Veterinary Science & Fisheries, and Faculty of Forestry.

Buffalo is a very important livestock commodity, especially in South Asia. Buffaloes are considered as the “black gold” among the Nepalese farmers. There are about 5.17 million heads of buffaloes in Nepal that contributes greatly in national economy and Animal Source Food supply system. Buffalo contributes about 67.7% and 57.4% to the total milk and meat production in the country, respectively. There are 3 indigenous breeds of buffaloes in Nepal; Lime, Parkote and Gaddi in the hills, whereas, Terai and Inner Terai region is dominated by Murrah & their crossbred population. Because of the increasing trend of meat consumption in the country and great demand of buffalo meat, the slaughtering rate of buffalo is rapidly increasing as compared to the herd replacement rate causing a danger of depleting buffalo number in the country. Thus, immediate attention for conserving the buffalo population and its productivity is important.

The Agriculture and Forestry University in collaboration with Ministry of Livestock Development, Nepal Agriculture Research Council, and Michigan State University, USA is organizing an “International Buffalo Symposium 2017” on November 15-18, 2017 in Chitwan, Nepal with the theme “Enhancing Buffalo Production for Food and Economy”. The objective of the symposium is sharing knowledge among national and international scientists working on buffalo production.

World Rabies Day 2017

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33 World Veterinary Congress – Incheon, Korea – WVA Events

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The WVC2017 is approaching fast and we would like to encourage you and your members to join us in Incheon, Korea on 27-31st August 2017 and to enjoy an outstanding educational and social program for veterinarians from all over the world.

In addition to the scientific program prepared by the WVA2017 Organizing Committee, the WVA will hold the following activities:

Download in PDF

Please forward this announcement to your individual members and encourage them to join the WVA in Incheon, Korea and to participate in the WVA Activities.

The ETD Bi-Weekly: Week of May 8

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Happy May! Earlier this month EPT and the GVP received acclaim in Time magazine’s ‘The World is not Ready for the next Pandemic.’ Scroll on for access to that story, exciting updates from West Africa, the latest Emerging Pandemic Threats update, and a recent case study publication. At the very end you’ll find the latest from the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention for Climate Change), a synthesis paper that  brings climate change to the One Health conversation.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Late last week, TIME magazine launched a story featuring our Predict project. The authors dive deep into the current state of viral affairs, and make a case for why we need to continue efforts to get ahead of epidemics. Read the full story here.

​May 8, 2017: Emerging Pandemic Threat update

Summary:
481 poultry outbreaks, 191 wild bird outbreaks, 1 camel outbreak, and 79 human infections with 10 pathogens (various avian and swine influenza viruses, MERS-CoV, monkeypox) were reported by 24 countries between April 11 and May 7, 2017.  These outbreaks/infections occurred between November 2016 and May 2017.

Recent trends:
After several months of very high activity, H5N8 HPAI outbreaks in birds and H7N9 AI human infections ​continue to decline.  This is typical of avian influenza viruses which are at their most active between about November and March.  Because of an absence of large hospital clusters, the total number of MERS-CoV cases between January and ​April 2017 is lower than for the comparable time period in all years since 2013.

Specific pathogens and countries affected:

  • H3N2v Swine Influenza – 1 human case (USA)
    A total of 375 human infections (0.3% average case fatality rate) have been reported by 3 countries between 2009 and 2017.
  • H5N1/Asia Highly-Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) – 64 poultry outbreaks and 1 wild bird outbreak  (Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Vietnam)
    A total of 23,470 bird outbreaks (more than 250 million birds affected) and 878 human infections (52% average case fatality rate) have been reported by 67 countries between 1997 and 2017
  • H5N2 HPAI – 9 poultry outbreaks (China)
    A total of 999 bird outbreaks (more than 71.6 million birds affected) have been reported by 4 countries between 2012 and 2017; no human infections reported to date.
  • H5N6/Asia HPAI – 367 poultry outbreaks and 169 wild bird outbreaks (China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam).  415 of these outbreaks took place in November and December 2016, but were only recently reported.
    A total of 677 bird outbreaks (more than 28.9 million birds affected) and 17 human infections (35% average case fatality rate) have been reported by 6 countries between 2014 and 2017.
  • H5N8 HPAI – 41 poultry outbreaks and 20 wild bird outbreaks (Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Niger, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, UK)
    A total of 2,798 bird outbreaks (more than 19.8 million birds affected) have been reported by 46 countries between 2013 and 2017; no human infections reported to date.
  • H7N3 HPAI – 1 poultry outbreak (Mexico)
    A total of 144 bird outbreaks (more than 23.3 million birds affected) have been reported by 1 country between 2012 and 2017.  5 human infections (0% average case fatality rate) have been reported by 3 countries between 2004 and 2012.
  • H7N9/Asia LPAI and HPAI – 57 human infections (China)
    A total of 8 bird outbreaks (more than 189 thousand birds affected) and 1,421 human infections (29% average case fatality rate) have been reported by 3 countries between 2013 and 2017
  • H9N2 LPAI – 1 human infection (China)
    A total of 37 human infections (3% average case fatality rate) have been reported by 3 countries between 1999 and 2017.
  • MERS-CoV – 1 camel outbreak and 19 human infections (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE)
    A total of 29 camel outbreaks and 1,962 human infections (36% average case fatality rate) have been reported by 27 countries between 2012 and 2017
  • Monkeypox – 1 human infection (Sierra Leone)
    A total of 2 monkey outbreaks and 770 human infections (3% average case fatality rate) have been reported by 12 countries between 1970 and 2017.

Data sources:
http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/
http://www.who.int/influenza/human_animal_interface/en/
http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-programmes/whe/outbreaks-and-other-emergencies-updates.html
http://www.oie.int/wahis_2/public/wahid.php/Diseaseinformation/WI
http://empres-i.fao.org/eipws3g/
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm
http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/CCC/pressreleases/pages/default.aspx

Guinea completes its JEE!
The Government of Guinea (Ministries of Health, Livestock, Agriculture, Environment, and Security) with UN and USG partners successfully completed the WHO Joint External Evaluation (JEE) on April 30th, 2017.  Government of Guinea experts across technical areas including surveillance, laboratory, workforce, immunization, emergency response, etc. participated in the JEE with 12 external evaluators from WHO, CDC, USDA and France. The rigorous process highlighted progress since GHSA launched in early 2016, including improved ability to prevent healthcare acquired infections (HCAI), increased biosafety & biosecurity trainings; expanded  immunization coverage and capacity; and strengthened surveillance and laboratory capacity. The animal health sector remains weak,  but the ongoing USAID GHSA activities continue to identify gaps and help to address these deficiencies.

FAO provided support to the Minister of Livestock for a site visit to the Central Veterinary Laboratory with the JEE assessors.  USAID, through FAO, is providing support for renovations and technical support to the Central Veterinary Laboratory.  While the laboratory staff are knowledgeable, the facility needs support to function; and more assistance is needed to increase surveillance for animal health and outbreaks to provide samples to the laboratory.

A few initial take- aways from the JEE-   there was excellent multi-sectoral participation,  the process continues to broaden the conversations beyond Ebola response efforts to examine capacity in other priority areas and make recommendations for improvement, and the creation of the National Agency for Health Security (ANSS) in Guinea plays a critical role in the sustainability of the increased national epidemic preparedness and response capacity. It is apparent that the Ebola funding and recovery efforts have already improved capacities in the ability to prevent, detect and respond, but there is much work left to be done in order to achieve GHSA and JEE targets. The Minister of Health, Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo,  and the DCM of the US Embassy, Hughes Ogier,  participated in the closing session. Minister Diallo discussed the importance continuing collaboration to address gaps and continues to increase capacity across JEE technical areas.
For more information visit the following page.

 

 

Ebola Vaccines for Guinea and the World: WHO meeting in Conakry Guinea
During last month’s Ebola Vaccines for Guinea and the World meeting in Conakry, global partners met to (1) emphasize the importance of collaborative efforts to address global public health emergencies, (2) celebrate success of the Ebola vaccine trails in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone; (3) recognize the Government of Guinea’s vision and leadership for the WHO vaccine ring trail; and (4) outline a WHO R&D blueprint for better preparedness and response for future outbreaks. Additionally, WHO recognized selected individuals from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia for their remarkable contributions to the Ebola response. Of note, was James Bangura, PREDICT’s country coordinator in Sierra Leone. US CDC, NIH and USAID participated in the meeting as each agency continues to make important contributions for Ebola vaccination and stockpiles

In response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, global health leaders called for the rapid development and deployment of a licensed Ebola vaccine as part of an integrated outbreak control and prevention strategy; and Gavi created a plan to respond to the Ebola crisis to help ensure access to a vaccine when it becomes available.  Beyond the vaccine discussions, Dr. Tolbert Nyenswah, the Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), discussed the importance of Global Health Security to expand the capacity built for the Ebola outbreak for other diseases; as evidence by their rapid response to a mysterious illness.  Sierra Leone’s Health Minister, Dr. Abu Bakar Fotanah, discussed the need for One Health efforts to prevent another outbreak. Overall the workshop served as an excellent forum to celebrate the achievements made together during the Ebola outbreak and while applied lessons learned and discussing areas for improvement.

Post-Ebola Case Study Series from HC3

The Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) has published a series of case studies examining activities and tools used in the social and behavior change communication (SBCC) strategy to improve healthy behaviors and increase demand for and use of quality reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) services in Guinea as the country continues to recover from Ebola.

Each case study highlights how HC3 is working with Guinea’s hardest hit communities to rebuild both trust in the health system and the quality of care delivered.

 

 

New UNFCCC Publication:
Human health and adaptation: understanding climate impacts on health and opportunities for action. Synthesis paper by the secretariat
Climate change presents a risk to health in a variety of ways. The health risks resulting from climate change impacts in countries are changing and the interlinkages between health, climate change and other drivers of global environmental changes are complex and need to be better understood. A large number of activities ranging from policies that are planned and implemented by governments, to various actions undertaken by intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and communities are already under way in order to address climate change impacts on health. However, a number of challenges, particularly with regard to awareness and education, as well as planning, capacity and financial mechanisms continue to limit action on the ground. In order to better protect human health from the impacts of climate change, numerous collaborative actions need to be implemented. Read the full paper here.

FAVA Ex-com 2016-2018

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