FAO supports One Health in Bangladesh
In the presence of the Mr. Mohammed Nasim, MP, Honourable Minister of Health & Family Welfare, and the Dr Shelina Afroza, Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, and Mr. Sayed Monzurul Islam, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, the 8th annual One Health Bangladesh Conference (29-31 March, 2015), showcased the achievements to date of the One Health movement in Bangladesh.
One Health aims to bring together professionals from human health, animal health and the environment in order to manage better new and emerging health threats. The kinds of threats include potential zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza or Nipah virus - as well as rabies, anthrax and potential food chain hazards.
Over 400 participants came together at the three day event to review progress and identify new directions for work in this important field. The key partners along with Government of Bangladesh, FAO and WHO were the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) - responsible for organizing the conference - as well as USAID, ICDDR-B and US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Minister emphasized the importance of better teamwork and spirit among the inter-related ministries as stronger support from local administration and representatives, to make “One Health Movement” a success. ‘Over the time, the government has stepped up the initiative on food borne disease surveillance, laboratory networking and better enabling sanitary inspectors, as we are deeply committed to improving food security in the country’, he said.
A key note paper was given by Dr Dennis Carroll of USAID.
In discussing, Mike Robson, FAO Representative in Bangladesh offered FAO’s full support and highlighted the recent successful “4 way linking workshop” conducted at BRAC CDM bringing together professionals from human and animal health, from the disciplines of epidemiology and laboratory diagnosis, to conduct a desk top simulation of an outbreak of a new disease, with the aim to improve communication and understanding between the different disciplines. More on 8th One Health Bangladesh Conference:
VIDEO: Aim of Four Way Linking Workshop