Regional Seminar: Focal Points for Veterinary Laboratories

Regional Seminar for WOAH National Focal Points for Veterinary Laboratories

WOAH’s Global Programme for Capacity Building supports WOAH Delegates and National Focal Points towards providing good governance for improving animal health at the national level while explaining and clarifying their roles and responsibilities within WOAH.

National Focal Points (NFP) for Veterinary Laboratories serve as WOAH’s main contact points for laboratory related matters in Members.

Details on NFP responsibilities: Terms of Reference

WOAH RRAP, SRR-SEA and HQ organised the Regional Seminar for Focal Points for Veterinary Laboratories from 16-18 July, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan. It was supported by the Australian, Chinese and Japanese Governments and organised in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The event was joined by NFPs or their representatives from 28 Members, resource persons from different sub-regions, JICA staff and trainees, representatives from the government of Japan, and WOAH staff and interns.

In addition, on the 3rd day of the seminar, representatives from WOAH Reference Centres in the Asia and Pacific region were invited to join in person or via Zoom. On the following day, the 4th Regional Meeting of Reference Centres in Asia and the Pacific was organised in a hybrid format.

Objectives

Seminar objectives:

To improve NFPs’ understanding of the roles of NFPs for Veterinary Laboratories
To provide NFPs with updates related to WOAH’s activities related to veterinary laboratories, including laboratory capacity building support available through WOAH, as well as various initiatives of WOAH RCs and Partner organisations
To familiarise NFPs on various issues around veterinary laboratory diagnosis and management
To provide a forum for NFPs to interact with each other, representatives from regional RCs, Partner organisations, and WOAH staff for information sharing and identification of collaboration opportunities