Certified trainees posed with officials from FAO, MAF and MoHS

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) gave a refresher training to 59 Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) to provide support to improve animal disease surveillance and reporting.

With funding support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under their Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) portfolio, the training was conducted from 19^th to 30th September 2018 in Makeni City, Sierra Leone and delivered using the recently revised CAHWs training manual based on the One Health approach. The manual was revised to capture the spirit of One Health and emphasizes on the importance of disease surveillance and reporting especially on priority diseases identified in the country.

Director of the Extension in the Livestock and Veterinary Services Division in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) Mr Dennis Paul thanked FAO for working with the Ministry to improve the country’s livestock sector. Mr Paul lamented on the reduction of staff in the Livestock Division of MAF, especially trained and qualified veterinarians. “The CAHWs will contribute towards improving disease surveillance and reporting in the districts particularly with very few staff”, he noted during the opening session.

The Country Team Leader for the Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Sierra Leone, Dr Germain Bobo informed the CAHWs during the opening session on the importance of being able to recognize and report animal diseases in order to help in their prevention and control. “Over 60 percent of the diseases that affect humans originate in animals, which is why the health of the animals is very important”, Bobo noted in his remarks. He congratulated the CAHWs and admonished them on the importance of working together in the spirit of One Health.

The trained CAHWs were taken through various sessions, including the roles and responsibilities of CAHWs in animal production and health, health of farm animals, biosafety and biosecurity, disease surveillance and reporting (tools), record keeping and One Health (OH) approach.

One of the trained CAHWs, Jane Camara, expressed gratitude to FAO for improving their abilities to provide animal health delivery services in their communities. She emphasized the manual has been simplified to enable CAHWs to report diseases that they observe their communities and do not have to perform complicated diagnostics. “Through this training, we expect to improve animal health service deliver within our respective communities”, she stated.

The Deputy Chief Agriculture Officer in the MAF, Mr Sorie Kamara during the closing ceremony, discussed the importance of collaboration between the Community Health Workers and Community Animal Health Workers because so many diseases that affect humans originate from animals. He stressed that it is crucial to address issues that prevent future epidemics by strengthening animal health care at a community level.

 FAO representative in Sierra Leone, Dr Nyabenyi Tipo during the closing ceremony emphasized on the importance of disease surveillance and role of CAHWs in achieving surveillance objectives.  “Surveillance systems that generate specific data on diseases and geographic areas are imperative because they help measure the relative importance of a health events, their distribution and determinants. This helps policy makers make more informed decisions about disease prevention and control.” She stated.

Contacts:

Germain Bobo

Country Team Leader, FAO ECTAD Sierra Leone

[email protected]