Government agencies and development partners join forces to address rabies
FAO, in collaboration with WHO and WOAH, helped the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in organizing the World Rabies Day 2024 event at Sayaboury Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office on 27 September. The event was funded by USAID. FAO has been assisting member countries in the design and implementation of rabies vaccination and control programmes; in developing and distributing educational materials, promoting World Rabies Day and fostering operational research. To mark the event this year, FAO provided the Department of Livestock and Fisheries with 4,000 doses of rabies vaccines and vaccination equipment. Read more here.

First FAO global conference on animal health innovation
FAO ECTAD joined the first FAO Global Conference on Animal Health Innovation, Reference Centres and Vaccines from 23 to 25 September. In addition to RAP, country teams from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Viet Nam were also represented in the conference. The teams also participated in various technical side-events, including a consultation with the FAO ADG and CVO, Dr Thanawat Tiensin, together with other regional officers from around the world.

Discussing collaboration between FAO and FETN
On 2 October, FAO and the ASEAN+3 Field Epidemiology Training Network (FETN) convened to explore opportunities for collaboration following their productive meeting at the FAO office in September 2024. The discussions focused on revitalizing partnerships between the region's human and animal health epidemiology networks. Key initiatives include One Health training sessions and simulation exercises. Both parties expressed their commitment to holding regular coordination meetings to ensure ongoing collaboration and to strategize for future joint initiatives.

Celebrating FAO ECTAD's 20th anniversary
Commemorating the establishment of the ECTAD programme, FAO organized a celebratory event showcasing the work that FAO has done in the region, alongside work that has been done around the world. From the Asia-Pacific, Dr Imron Suandy, the Director of the Department of Animal Health of Indonesia, shared inputs and insights on their own experience regarding their collaboration with FAO ECTAD Indonesia. FAO ECTAD Asia-Pacific participated in the celebration in full force.

Building laboratory capacity for AMR surveillance in Cagayan de Oro City
FAO, in continued partnership with the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and with support from the USAID Global Health Security Project and Fleming Fund UK, conducted the “Refresher Training and Parallel Testing on Bacterial Isolation, Identification, and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test (AST)” for the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL) X in Cagayan de Oro City, from 27 September to 4 October. This is the 14th of 15 regional laboratory visits, during which FAO introduced the Assessment Tool for Laboratories and AMR Surveillance Systems (ATLASS) for assessment of laboratories, marking this the first sub-national laboratory to be assessed using this tool. Thanks to the continuing support of Fleming Fund UK and USAID, FAO and BAI regularly conduct this training to enhance laboratory capacity, implement the National AMR Surveillance of Diseased Livestock, harmonize laboratory procedures, and standardize laboratory practices.

School awareness campaign on rabies
FAO, through the USAID-funded GHS project supported DLS to conduct a nationwide campaign on rabies awareness for school students. The campaign launched in different parts of Nepal during the month of September where more than 40 000 students from 600 schools across all seven provinces of Nepal were reached. These awareness campaigns are expected to contribute to the behavior change of participants thereby leading to an increase in dog vaccination and seeking medical care and vaccination in post-animal-bite cases ultimately contributing to the “Zero by 30” target of Rabies elimination. The event was organized in close collaboration with Nepal Veterinary Association, Veterinary Practitioners Association Nepal and Veterinary Laboratory, Dhangadhi.

School visits to monitor the zoonoses awareness programme
From 26 to 27 September and 2 to 3 October, FAO and the Directorate of Veterinary Public Health at the Ministry of Agriculture conducted visits to selected schools in West Bandung District and Sukabumi Regency to monitor the implementation of the independent learning curriculum focused on zoonoses awareness. These schools, participating in the zoonoses awareness program in collaboration with West Java BBGP and supported by USAID, have integrated zoonoses education through three key approaches: intracurricular subjects, co-curricular activities via the Pancasila Student Profile Strengthening Project (P5), and extracurricular projects. The inclusion of zoonoses awareness in P5 promotes student creativity, allowing each school to tailor the themes to their educational objectives.

Second annual congress network of FAO reference centre for AMR
FAO participated in the annual congress from 19 to 20 September. Building on the first congress in 2023, this second congress was organized to discuss updates and plan the ways forward for this collaboration. Recognizing the value of this platform for the region given its long-standing work with the Chulalongkorn University (globally designated as FAO Reference Centre for AMR in Thailand) and other FAO Reference Centres for AMR, Dr Mary Joy Gordoncillo, Dr David Sutherland and Dr Usman Zaheer participated as part of the AMR team representing FAO RAP.

Private sector engagement workshop to address AMR in the fisheries sector
FAO India and FAO RAP, in collaboration with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), and the National Food Laboratory (NFL) Chennai, organized the final session in a three-part series titled "Working Together to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance in Asia and the Pacific” on 25 September." The workshop, organized under the European Union (EU) Tripartite AMR Project, aimed to enhance private sector engagement in addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the fisheries sector. The workshop attended by over 55 participants, focused on assessing the economic impact of AMR and the regulatory measures in place to address it in India.

Discussing the AMR control indicators in the animal health sector with government and poultry industry stakeholders
On 30 September, FAO, in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture and with support from USAID, held a meeting in Bogor to discuss strategies for measuring AMR Control Indicators in the Animal Health Sector, specifically for the National Medium-Term Development Planning (RPJMN). The meeting aimed to establish a robust data collection framework for AMR control indicators in broiler poultry farms, fostering partnerships between the government and the private sector. Agreements were reached on specific activities and target indicators for inclusion in the upcoming National Action Plan (NAP) on AMR, with a particular focus on the first indicator: the percentage of commercial poultry farms implementing responsible antibiotic use.

Meeting on the NAP AMR 2025-2029 Theory of Change
Supported by the European Union (EU), FAO and the Coordinating Ministry of Human Development and Cultural Affairs (CMHDCA) convened a meeting from 3 to 4 October in Bogor to discuss the Theory of Change for the 2025-2029 National Action Plan (NAP) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Prior to this, CMHDCA and the AMR control task force (POKJA) reviewed the 2020-2024 NAP, identifying key strengths and weaknesses, and offering recommendations for the development of the next NAP. The meeting resulted in a draft of the 2025-2029 NAP’s objectives, outcomes, strategies, and indicators, which will be further refined through upcoming intensive drafting sessions based on the evaluation of the previous plan.