National Workshop on “Strengthening Capacity to Respond to Animal Disease Emergencies in the Republic of Sudan”

3 – 5 November 2014, Khartoum, Sudan

The national workshop on “Strengthening capacity to respond to animal disease emergencies in the Republic of Sudan” was jointly organized by the FAO Representation in Sudan and the Crisis Management Centre - Animal Health (CMC-AH). The workshop took place at Coral Hotel in Khartoum from 3 to 5 November 2014. Twenty-six participants comprising of veterinary officials from the Federal Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and Rangelands, the National Directorate of Veterinary Services and field veterinarians from all the 17 states of Sudan (Blue Nile, Sinnar, White Nile, West Kordofan, South, North, West, East and Central Darfur, Gardarif, Red Sea, Kassala, Khartoum, Gezira, River Nile, Northem), attended the workshop. The range of expertise of the attendees spans animal and veterinary health, diagnostic, disease surveillance, quarantine posts, animal health information and reporting unit.

The FAO team comprised of two technical experts from the CMC-AH and four veterinarians   from the FAO Office in Sudan.

The aim of the workshop was to present FAO’s Good Emergency Management Practice: The essentials (GEMP) manual, and the application of its principles. The GEMP is a set of concepts and guiding principles for veterinary services in improving national and regional capacities for effective preparedness, control and management of disease emergencies.

The workshop was officially opened by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. In his opening remarks, he thanked the organizers of the workshop for giving the opportunity to veterinary officers to work together, especially in the field of disease emergencies. On behalf of the FAO Representative in Sudan, Dr Rosanne  Marchesich delivered remarks by thanking the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) for proving funding for the workshop, and to the Sudanese Government for hosting the workshop.

Noting that wide sharing of GEMP principles is likely to improve countries’ capacities in preparedness planning, the workshop’s objectives revolved around the following subtopics:

▪      the different phases of emergency disease management;

▪      key elements of preparedness planning;

▪      management structure and roles and responsibilities of each command level;

▪      nature of a risk analysis and risk assessment approach;

▪      preparedness and contingency plans and their components;

▪      requirements and challenges for verification of freedom from disease;

▪      the role of veterinary services in recovery; and

▪      key elements of an operation manual (Standards Operating Procedures).

The two and half day workshop was designed, planned and delivered as an interactive participatory forum employing the use of short presentations followed by group and plenary discussions.

Throughout the workshop, the following points were discussed:

▪      key stages of the GEMP cycle in planning for disease emergencies;

▪      importance of well-established command structures before the occurrence of emergencies and how the structure advocated by GEMP meets the existing structure in the Sudanese veterinary services;

▪      importance of  risk  analysis  as  fundamental to the development of  an  emergency  preparedness  plan;

▪      a list of priority diseases was developed based on current animal health and socio-economic impacts to the farming community. This list then formed the foundation for the national strategy of disease control. The diseases chosen are: Rift Valley fever (RVF), peste des petits ruminants (PPR), brucellosis, sheep and goat pox and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD);

▪      mobile-based technology for reporting purposes was commended and how it links animal health and public health practitioners;

▪       recovery for disease emergencies, especially the importance of obtaining a disease free status; and

▪      lessons learned during highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks were shared, especially aspects of coordination for better disease management.

Following fruitful workshop discussions, the participants assessed their level of preparedness and recognized the need to address some of the following gaps:

• compensation policy;
• resource mobilisation strategy;
• contingency plans and Standards Operations Procedures (SOPs);
• increase capacity on risk assessment and other aspects of risk analysis such as risk communication;
• intensify disease surveillance, especially at border points (border cooperation needed, especially with regard to intensive pastoralism);
• harmonise disease control program within the region;
• enhancing fundraising for restocking program; and
• Increase access to information on DIVA vaccines and its application.

Participants were informed of the LinkedIn Group “GEMP Network”, which is a platform that brings all the past participants together to share their experiences and lessons learned during emergency disease events. Also through this group, FAO is able to share information related to risk communication and early warning for major threats, such as the EMPRES Watch and EMPRES Focus On alerts. Participants were invited to join the group and to start sharing information.

The workshop was officially closed on 5 November including remarks by Mr Jama Abdi Adan, the FAO Representative in Sudan. In his closing remarks, Dr Jama highlighted the importance of livestock in Sudan for pastoralist and rural livelihoods. He also reminded the audience of the work that FAO is doing in terms of resilience and how this training comes at the right time, setting the groundwork for increased collaboration and information sharing among different states. Dr Jama concluded his remarks by sharing his appreciation to the great collaboration between the FAO Office and the Government of Sudan.

Acknowledgement

The participants thanked FAO for the support extended during the preparation and the conduct of the workshop, and for providing logistical support during the workshop. They also thanked the UK Government for funding this particular event. 

Khartoum, 5 November 2014