Assessements

FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) develops and performs assessments of national laboratory performance, surveillance capacity, epidemiology capacity, animal health workforces and information systems for animal diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the One Health policy framework.

Through 360-degree evaluations using FAO ECTAD’s assessment tools, gaps in national laboratory performance, surveillance, epidemiology capacity, animal health workforce and information systems for animal diseases are identified, and country-specific recommendations for improvement are implemented in close collaboration with national counterparts. An initial external assessment is conducted to establish baselines against which progress assessments can be measured, through either external evaluation or a self-assessment applied by trained national assessors.

FAO Assessment Tool for Laboratories and AMR Surveillance Systems (FAO-ATLASS)

FAO-ATLASS helps countries to systematically describe and assess their AMR surveillance and monitoring capacities in the food and agriculture sectors. The tool includes modules for surveillance and laboratory assessment. Since the development of FAO-ATLASS in 2016, over 50 countries and more than 180 laboratories have used the tool to assess their capacities and plan actions for improvement.

Surveillance Evaluation Tool (SET)

FAO launched SET in 2017 under the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) programme to support countries in the development of effective animal disease surveillance systems. SET reveals the strengths and weaknesses of assessed surveillance systems, encompassing the country’s institutional organization, laboratory operations, surveillance activities, epidemiologic surveillance workforce, data management, communications and evaluation, which are divided into 96 indicators. To date, SET has been used in over 34 countries across Africa, the Americas and Asia to provide veterinary services with an objective, standardized, comprehensive and systematic evaluation.