The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has collaborated with FAO to organize a consultation workshop on 11 June 2023 to launch the national strategy to develop the specialized veterinary management system in Viet Nam at all levels from 2021–2030; thanks to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for their strong support. Thanawat Tiensin, Director of FAO’s Animal Production and Health Division, participated in the workshop and recommended some solutions for Viet Nam to adapt to the increasing market requirements. FAO ECTAD Senior Technical Coordinator Pawin Padungtod also shared his view on FAO’s One Health approach and enhancing veterinary management in Viet Nam. Read the news here.

FAO participated in the USAID India's Health Office partners' meeting on 27 June 2023, where FAO's previous and ongoing efforts to support the Government of India were showcased, including the establishment of the India Network of Fisheries and Animal Antimicrobial Resistance, development of a protocol on estimating antimicrobial use at the farm level, contributions to the animal health component of National Action Plan 2.0, publication of the National Framework on One Health, and the identification of research priorities at the human-animal interface. Future activities under India's forthcoming Global Health Security Program were also mentioned. This includes initiatives on the following themes: antimicrobial resistance, zoonoses, national laboratory system, surveillance, human resources (such as establishing the Field Epidemiology Training Program for Veterinarians (FETPV)) and the establishment of FAO ECTAD India.  

Over the last two years, the number of dogs being vaccinated against rabies has declined substantially on Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, due to COVID-19. It led to a rise in rabies cases in animals and humans on the island. Early this year, rabies was identified on Timor Island, possibly from dogs transported from Flores. FAO, therefore, shared its experiences on rabies control in a seminar held by the Indonesian Ministry of Health and World Health Organization (WHO) on Timor Island from 26 to 28 June 2023. More than 60 participants from various local animal and human health sectors discussed lessons learned from FAO’s rabies control programme, management of bite cases from suspected rabid animals and management of patients with signs of rabies. FAO also conveyed the importance of mass dog vaccination and Integrated Bite Case Management to respond to outbreaks, and advised against responding to rabies outbreaks with dog culling. Participants were expected to share the information with their network, including the need to form rabies centres, manage community mobilization to report cases and carry out vaccinations, and facilitate a rabies communication forum with a One Health approach.

The Department of Livestock Development (DLD) in Thailand, under close collaboration with the Thai Veterinary Medical Association under Royal Patronage, organized the high-level workshop on national One Health coordination: from animal health to One Health from 26 to 27 June 2023 in Bangkok. The meeting discussed the development of and sought a way forward for, the One Health approach in the animal health sector to coordinate efficiently with the Coordinating Unit for One Health under the Department of Disease Control. The Tripartite (FAO, WHO and World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)) regional offices and representatives from disease control, laboratory, aquatic, fishery, forestry, environmental and other relevant sectors and partners participated in the event.

FAO participated in the bi-regional technical advisory group meeting on the Asia-Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (APSED III), which was organized as a hybrid meeting in the Philippines from 27 to 29 June 2023. Since 2006, three iterations of the APSED have guided efforts to implement the revised International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) and strengthen capacities to detect and respond to public health emergencies in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions. FAO provided inputs into the draft Asia-Pacific Health Security Framework that builds on APSED III as a regional approach and mechanism to implement and advance IHR (2005) core capacities, thematic priorities and health security.

The CABI programme was successfully piloted in a village in North Cotabato, the Philippines, in 2022. This led to the planned expansion of using CABI in other areas of the Philippines, and in four other Southeast Asian countries. Participants from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand met from 27 to 29 June 2023 in the Philippines to assess the applicability of protocols developed in implementing CABI. They also discussed the feasibility of data needed for CABI’s impact assessment. Partners from the North Cotabato local government unit, regional veterinary quarantine officers and PhilVet Health Services shared their experiences and insights in piloting CABI in the Philippines. USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs fund this programme.