As part of continued training of World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE) National Focal Points, WOAH headquarters, Collaborating Centres and the Regional Representation organised an online seminar to address the 7th cycle for Focal Points for Veterinary Products. Focal Points for Aquatic Animals were also invited to the event on 25th-26th April for Members across Asia and the Pacific region.
Following the Regional Seminar for National Focal Points for Veterinary Products (6th Cycle) in Malaysia in January 2020, the 7th Cycle training was developed as a virtual event. The workshop provided participants with information on the quality of veterinary medicines. This built on feedback from previous seminars and considered the recommendations of the 2nd WOAH Global Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance and Prudent Use of Antimicrobial Agents in Animals Putting Standards into Practice (Morocco, 2018).
This training was led by Headquarters staff with technical assistance from the National Veterinary Assay Laboratory (NVAL) in Japan, a WOAH Collaborating Centre for Diagnosis and Control of Animal Diseases and Related Veterinary Product Assessment in Asia, and support from the regional WOAH offices. The Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific hosted the online event. The training was interactive, with opportunities for participants to share their opinions throughout.
Topics covered included: registration of diagnostic kits, substandard and falsified veterinary products, pharmacovigilance, regulatory harmonization/convergence, registration of veterinary medicinal products, antiparasitic resistance, antimicrobial use (AMU) data collection, and AMU in aquaculture.
