Participants going through a simulation exercise /@FAOGhana/David Youngs

Using One Health tabletop simulation exercise and after-action review that assesses response capacity to avian influenza outbreaks.

Avian influenza is one of the six major zoonotic diseases of Ghana, and is included in Ghana's National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS). The public health burden and socio-economic impact of this animal disease that can be transmitted to humans is often underestimated due to poor surveillance systems. Its early detection and response is therefore critical to prevent further spread in livestock and transmission to humans.

Following the recommendations of the national multi-sectoral workshop to review and update the contingency plan and standard operating procedures for avian influenza held in 2009, the One Health Technical Working Group and Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD) of Ghana with support from FAO conducted a sub-national Tabletop Simulation Exercise (SIMEX) and the After- Action Review (AAR) from 13 to 16 September 2022. The workshop brought together 43 animal, human and environmental experts from the VSD, Ghana Health Service (GHS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Wildlife Division of Forestry Commission (WDFC) among others.

The objective of this workshop was to test the Ghana’s avian influenza preparedness and response plan in order to improve timely detection, preparedness and response of this disease using a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary One Health approach.

This SIMEX and AAR exercises were supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), through the Global Security Health Agenda, with funding from United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In his opening remarks, the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong, said “the increasing HPAI H5N1 outbreaks in poultry farms in the country has become a major concern to the Government of Ghana considering the huge losses and the effects on the livelihoods of poultry farmers and consumers and for that matter food security”.

Emmanuel Adetor, Regional Veterinary Officer, on behalf of the Veterinary Services Division, stated that "efforts for the control and prevention of avian influenza must take into account the One Health approach, since most of the effects of the disease have socio-economic impacts”.

Speaking on behalf of FAO Ghana, Ahmed Garba, Team Leader of the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in Ghana, said “the burden of the disease in Ghana is very high and necessitated concerted efforts to put in place coordination mechanisms by various funding partners to combat the menace are welcome". He also reiterated FAO's continued effort to assist VSD in emergency preparedness, such as the ongoing training of staff and this simulation exercise. which is part of the International Health Regulation (IHR) Monitoring an Evaluation Framework”.

Planning scenarios in the context of avian influenza control plans

The workshop used multi-sectoral "One Health" approaches, and different case scenarios to simulate real-life avian influenza outbreak phases. Participants evaluated avian influenza outbreak response plans, clarified the roles and responsibilities of participants in planning and responding to avian influenza outbreaks, identified gaps in Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and provided recommendations for improving the response to avian influenza outbreaks.

Following the simulation exercise, an after-action review was conducted to identify and agree on One Health practices and actions needed to achieve better results and to identify areas of the response that worked well during the multi-sectoral simulation exercise of avian influenza outbreaks in the country in 2021.