FAO Continually Build Capacity of Veterinary Epidemiologist in Africa
By Ene Okwanihe, Abuja
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations FAO’s In-Service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (ISAVET) program in Africa, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is hosting twelve West and Central African countries on strategies for building integrated approaches to animal health workforce development, disease detection, and response.
The event aims to enhance the implementation of the In-service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training and to explore avenues for bolstering sustainable capacity in field epidemiology under the “One Health” approach.
It seeks to take stock of the program’s progress, address challenges, and coordinate efforts across countries and Participants will be exposed to innovative approaches to building a highly skilled workforce that can overcome critical threats at the interface between human, animal, and environmental health.
Speaking at the event holding in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the FAO country representative to Nigeria, Dominique Koffy, who was represented by Tofiq Braimah, Operations specialist at the FAO, emphasized the need for enhanced veterinary epidemiology capacity to combat emerging infectious diseases, transboundary animal diseases, and zoonosis.
“The growing burden of emerging infectious diseases, transboundary animal diseases and zoonosis poses a threat to the health of people and animals, as well as food safety and food security. There is a critical need to build integrated strategies and policies for animal health workforce development, to ensure timely and effective disease detection and response to combat these threats”.
According to him, the goal of the ISAVET training program is to build workforce field epidemiology capacity, in order to improve surveillance and response to health security threats, tailored to country needs, in a harmonized and sustainable manner across Africa.
He said the approach which prioritises adaptation to country needs and situations, while ensuring harmony amongst countries is very laudable, as it ensures sustainable impact across the region.
AGRICULTURE
On his part, the Minister of state for agriculture and Food Security Dr. Sabi Abdullahi who said ISAVET aligns with Nigeria’s goals to strengthen the animal health system, ensure food security, and protect public health.
He said the workshop will stress the importance of regional collaboration in veterinary epidemiology, especially for addressing transboundary diseases like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Foot-and- Mouth Disease, and African swine fever.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu’s administration, agriculture is positioned as a key driver of economic development. Strengthening veterinary services through training programs like ISAVET is critical to ensuring the health and productivity of livestock, which supports food security and economic stability”.
He noted that the ISAVET program’s alignment with the “One Health” approach fosters collaboration between animal, human, and environmental health sectors ensuring comprehensive disease prevention and control strategies.
PARTICIPANTS
The International Epidemiologist for FAO in Liberia, Dr. Chrisostom Ayebazibwe says the ISAVET programme helps to enhance professionalism in veterinary services to be more responsive, to be more sensitive, and to be more accurate and realistic in responding to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
Another participant from Ghana, the coordinator ISAVET and Deputy Director Veterinary Services in Ghana Dr. Helena Acquah said ISAVET has helped African countries manage transboundary diseases.
She noted that diseases have no borders and African countries interact with each other and ISAVET is training people not only working in the clinic or farms, but also those at the borders.
