FAO boosts skills of frontline animal health workers to improve preparedness, detection and response to transboundary and zoonotic animal diseases in Uganda
First ISAVET cohort graduates after successful completion of the four-month intensive training
Following successful completion of 4-month training which included formal classes and field project work under mentorship, the first cohort of the In-Service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (ISAVET), has graduated. During the graduation ceremony, 19 out the 20 enrolled trainees, drawn from 17 selected districts, presented findings from their field projects based on topics that were agreed upon between trainees, mentors, and supervising district officers during the first four weeks of formal training. The trainees were selected from Budaka, Butebo, Hoima, Kalungu, Kasese, Kazo, Kiruhura, Kisoro, Kotido, Kumi, Lamwo, Luwero, Mbale, Namutumba, Nwoya, Sheema and Tororo districts. Eight of the 20 trainees are women; a milestone in the male-dominated animal health sub-sector in Uganda.
The In-Service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (ISAVET) is a program that aims to develop skills of frontline animal health workforce in field level preparedness, early detection and rapid response to transboundary animal diseases (TADs) and emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) within the One Health approach. One Health is a collaborative effort of multiple disciplines, working at the local, regional, national and global levels to achieve better health outcomes by recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment. Veterinary field epidemiologists are the first line of defense against animal diseases that can also affect humans and therefore the ISAVET training is critical and timely, given the sustained occurrence of diseases that are transmissible between humans and animals.
The four-month training, which started on the 1st of November 2020 and ended on the 28th of February 2021, sought to build the capacity of in-service field-level veterinarians, creating a cadre of skilled frontline workers who can conduct effective surveillance and outbreak response.
While officiating at the closing ceremony of a three-day post-training workshop held in Entebbe, the Chief Veterinary Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), Dr AnnRose Ademun said that the competencies and skills attained are very crucial at a time when the country and world at large is faced with threats of emerging and re-emerging infections, majority of which (75%) are of animal origin.
“This first national cohort of ISAVET will form a formidable force against the biological enemies to safeguard both animal and public health. With subsequent trainings, a network for ISAVET can be formed to have a readily deployable force in case of health emergencies. The capacity that has been built now and yet to be built in the next four years of the project lifetime will be very instrumental in improving reporting of animal diseases at the national level and response to disease outbreaks to enhance animal health.” She added.
The training is part of activities supported by USAID funded project, “Supporting the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) to address Zoonotic Disease and Animal Health in Africa”. ISAVET training is addressing the gaps in workforce development that were identified through various International assessments such as Joint External Evaluation (JEE), Surveillance Evaluation Tool (SET) and the World Organisation for Animal Health’s (OIE) Performance of Veterinary Service pathway.
The FAO Assistant Representative in Charge of Programme, Dr Owach representing the FAO Representative Dr. Antonio Querido congratulated the trainees upon the successful completion of the training, saying that the first group of trainees will contribute to a pool of highly competent professionals to address emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases that threaten humanity.
“It is cheaper to control diseases in animals than in humans; this cohort will therefore be a body of expertise that is essential for Uganda”, he added, calling for the need to strengthen the One-Health response and coordination mechanisms at national and subnational levels to overcome negative impacts of disease outbreaks in humans and animals.
One of the trainees, Martha Mukisa, Animal Health Officer for Kalungu District said that the training has exposed her and the other trainees to a world of possibilities they did not think important as part of their job. “We were provided with full-time mentorship, and thanks to the support, we now have a clear understanding of the animal health and public health surveillance systems — purpose, target population and unit of interest, case-definitions, list of diseases included, active and passive data collection methods, data quality and flow.”
Martha says that the training has been instrumental in equipping the trainees with knowledge such as the importance of disease reporting and how to report, conducting data quality audits to assess the quality of surveillance data and provide feedback to stakeholders, summarising surveillance data using descriptive epidemiology, application of critical thinking on sharing and dissemination of health information, proper biosafety and biosecurity methods, conducting outbreak investigations, as well as communicating with technical and non-technical audiences, among others.
The Frontline ISAVET programme was developed in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Initiative and Texas A&M University and in collaboration with African universities including Makerere University, Uganda and Inter-State School of Veterinary Science and Medicine (EISMV), Senegal. FAO is implementing ISAVET in 14 countries in Africa, including Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda, following a similar successful initiative started 10 years ago in Asia that has now established training centres in Thailand, China, and Indonesia. The programme was first piloted in Uganda in 2018.
In Uganda, FAO is implementing the Frontline ISAVET together with the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and partners to address zoonosis, emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola and COVID-19 and transboundary animal diseases such as Foot-and-Mouth Disease and African Swine Fever in Uganda. For sustainable implementation and growth of the ISAVET programme, FAO involves government ministries in decisions, ensures the programme is housed within the Ministry of Agriculture and/or Livestock, and advocates for ownership at country and regional levels.