MoEF representation explained the goal of OHZDP workshop through online platform

Food and Agriculture Organization’s Emergency Center for Transboundary and Animal Diseases (FAO ECTAD)  supported the Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture, to increase coordination, collaboration, and communication across sectors by holding One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization (OHZDP) tool sensitization and training sessions in preparation for Indonesia’s 2021 OHZDP workshop.

Following Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 4/2019 on the improvement of the capability to prevent, detect, and respond to epidemics, global pandemics, and nuclear, biological, and chemical security, various efforts have been done by the Government of Indonesia. Among them, the Minister of Agriculture has issued a regulation (Permentan) No. 237/2019 listing priority zoonotic diseases. FAO always stands ready to assist the Ministry, especially in providing technical assistance based on lesson learned from almost 200 member countries.

Funded by the ongoing FAO ECTAD Emerging Pandemic Threats Programme, or EPT2-USAID project, ministries across sectors come together to utilize Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) OHZDP tool. One Health is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.

Bringing together core team of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Environment and Forestry, with advisory board consisting of international organizations, academics, animal health professional associations and other related stakeholders, the 2021 workshop is about to help Indonesia in prioritizing its top zoonotic diseases of greatest concern and combat shared health threats.

“Indonesia is a biodiverse country with many species we are proud of, but it could also pose danger. The increasing cases of zoonotic infections have caused extinction to some of our wildlife, and anthropogenic factor — such as illegal hunting, illegal trade, and land-use change — has triggered bigger threats by opening access of human-wildlife interface. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s role is to ensure that the biodiversity is well protected and the result of prioritization will not be human-centered, but is the intersection of the three sectors,” Lulu Agustina, Head of the Biodiversity Conservation Sub-Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, said.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has again warned us on the importance of early detection and prevention of diseases. “This workshop will contribute greatly in strengthening the surveillance of emerging infectious disease, so that we will have prepared quarantine measures necessary in case of pandemic,” said Vensya Sitohang, the Head of Surveillance and Health Quarantine, Ministry of Health.

Since the issuance of Strategic Infectious Animal Disease (PHMS) list by the Ministry of Agriculture,  together with FAO ECTAD, the ministry has attempted to implement One Health approach in experimental area across four provinces — Central Java, Riau, West Kalimantan, and South Sulawesi. “We have developed a cross-sectoral integrated health surveillance information system SIZE. [The data that we have gathered] will be discussed later [in our OHZDP workshops],” said Arif Hukmi, the Head of Animal Disease Control section, representing Director of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture.