1st South Asia TADs Coordination Meeting

Dr Tashi Yangzome Dorji, WOAH Delegate of Bhutan, gives remarks at the opening of the 1st TADs South Asia Coordination Meeting.

The First Coordination Meeting for the control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) in the South Asia Region

19 May 2023 (Bhutan) – To better support more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable livestock systems the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH; founded as OIE) established the Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs) as a joint coordination mechanism to providing guidance in sustainable longer term TADs prevention, control and, when possible, eradication of TADs. The Regional GF-TADs Strategy for the Asia and the Pacific 2023-2027 identifies the five priority diseases namely peste de petits ruminants (PPR), foot and mouth disease (FMD), African swine fever (ASF) and other swine diseases, avian influenza (AI) and lumpy skin disease (LSD). Under the GF-TADs, disease-specific global control strategies were developed and endorsed for FMD and PPR in 2012 and 2015, respectively, to support countries developing, implementing and monitoring step-wise and progressive national control approaches.

The meeting identified synergies

among neighboring countries for the purpose of strengthening and harmonizing of cross-border activities, developing agreements to improve sub-regional approaches for the control of TADs.

Dr Felix Njeumi of FAO gives a presentation at the 1st TADs South Asia Coordination Meeting.

The GF-TADs Regional Secretariat for Asia and the Pacific in coordination with the PPR Global Secretariat and GF-TADs FMD Working Group organized a South Asia TADs Coordination Meeting, hosting the first joint PPR and FMD Roadmap meetings in South Asia in combination with a sub-regional LSD technical workshop. The event was organized in a hybrid format and was composed of two phases: (i) a virtual preparatory phase hosted on the FAO Virtual Learning Center (VLC) for Asia and Pacific (RAP) between (17 April- 5 May 2023) and a (ii) live in-person event in Paro, Bhutan (8-12 May 2023). The first two days of the in-person event was dedicated to a PPR eradication programme, followed by an FMD Roadmap meeting for two days, and discussions on LSD control on the last day.

Participating in the meeting was a total of 48 participants, comprising the Delegates and Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs) of WOAH Member countries and territories, epidemiologists and laboratory experts from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sir Lanka, and members of the Global PPR Secretariats, Global FMD Working Group, laboratory experts for PPR, FMD and LSD, and representative staff from FAO and WOAH.

Outcomes and next steps

Over the five days of the meeting, the PPR, FMD and LSD epidemiological situations in South Asian countries were reviewed, and progress along PPR control stages and PCP-FMD was assessed. Participants also identified the key capacity gaps and challenges in PPR, FMD and LSD control and eradication, and possible solutions were discussed. The participants also shared the information on national vaccination programmes against PPR, FMD and LSD, and recommended use of safe, high-quality vaccines according to the most updated virological surveillance data for the implementation of appropriate vaccination strategies.

The meeting also identified the synergies among neighboring countries for the purpose of strengthening and harmonizing of cross-border activities, developing agreements to improve sub-regional approaches for the control of TADs. Memberships of the PPR and FMD Regional Advisory Groups for 2023-2025 and in the national PPR and FMD Roadmaps were also updated.

The Regional GF-TADs Secretariat together with GF-TADs partners will closely follow up with the SAARC Secretariat, and members in the South Asia Region will support PPR and FMD Regional Advisory Groups in the implementation of planned roadmap activities in the South Asia Region.

Joint meeting report

Following this event, we published a joint meeting report which covers the First South Asia TADs Coordination Meeting for Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), and Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). This was held in two phases, (i) a virtual preparatory phase on the FAO Virtual Learning Center followed by (ii) an in-person gathering which took place in Paro, Bhutan in May 2023.

The report includes summaries of disease situations and a review of progress in their control in the region, and lists recommendations to mitigate the impact of these diseases and improve their control in South Asia.

Read the report

Group photo of participants of the 1st TADs South Asia Coordination Meeting.

Dr Hirofumi Kugita, Representative of the WOAH Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific, gives remarks at the 1st TADs South Asia Coordination Meeting.