Ministry of Agriculture and FAO will include 'One Health' in learning materials at eleven universities in Indonesia
After a lengthy consultation and discussion process throughout 2018, the Directorate of Animal Health of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), together with FAO ECTAD Indonesia and the Association of Indonesian Veterinary Medical Faculties (AFKHI) will jointly promote the One Health approach. Eleven veterinary faculties will adopt One Health in their curricula, based on the lessons learned on controlling and preventing emerging infectious diseases (EID) and zoonoses using the experiences gained by the Ministry of Agriculture together with FAO ECTAD since 2015.
As a first step, Faculties of Veterinary Medicine from eleven AFKHI member universities across Indonesia will send their representative lecturers to a workshop to gather enriched teaching materials. These training materials comprise practical knowledge modules (best practices) compiled by the MoA Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services (DGLAHS), and other stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the DGLAHS Cinagara Training Center, the MoH Ciloto Health Training Center and several experienced animal health Master Trainers.
"There are four learning focus areas that we want to include in the curriculum, namely poultry health; prevention and control of EID and zoonoses using a One Health approach; anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and anti-microbial usage (AMU); and EID and zoonoses laboratory diagnostics. For this initial stage, we will train the lecturers on one focus area only – the One Health approach, to facilitate maximum absorption of the materials," said Ahmad Gozali, FAO Technical Adviser, during a discussion with AFKHI Deans of Veterinary Medicine in Bali, on November 2nd , 2018.
Gozali added, lessons learned from FAO ECTAD and DGLAHS activities of the Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT-2) program funded by USAID that are provided to AFKHI are based on practical field knowledge on either the One Health approach, AMR / AMU or poultry health. "The One Heath learning materials will enrich the soft skills previously provided by the Indonesia One Health University Network (INDOHUN)," Gozali explained.
Meanwhile AFKHI Chairperson, Srihadi Agung Priyono admitted that the current lecturers, especially in the Faculties of Veterinary Medicine, need to enhance their One Health expertise. The field teaching materials developed by the Directorate of Animal Health together with FAO ECTAD will be an important input. "However, it is not easy to make a new curriculum. What we can do first is to absorb all the newly offered materials, then begin to include them into the existing curriculum," he stated.
Siti Isrina, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta said that this initiative is in line with AFKHI's target of achieving "Day One Veterinary Competencies” as recommended by the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) especially in the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases (EID) and zoonoses with pandemic potential. "This initiative comes just at the right time as this year we will evaluate our curriculum. Hopefully we can include the MoA/FAO learning materials and lessons learned to achieve the 'Day One Veterinary Competencies', “ she explained.
The MoA Director of Animal Health, Fadjar Sumping Tjatur Rasa also expressed the hope that this new curriculum learning material would also take account of current veterinary issues. "The most important issue is how this learning material will prepare future veterinarians to be competent and capable to fully master animal health and disease control functions," Fadjar stated.
As generally recognized, control of EID and zoonoses, including the global issue of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) control can only be achieved using the One Health approach, which means multisectoral and multidisciplinary engagement and action, from the global to the local level. By being equipped with One Health learning material, it is expected that future Indonesian veterinarians will be able to contribute to achieving optimal health for humans, animals and the environment.
Deans of Veterinary Medicine Faculties from eleven universities in Indonesia discussed with MoA and FAO ECTAD to strengthen their curriculum on One Health (Nov 1, 2018)