Government and FAO ECTAD Indonesia Launch FETPV in Indonesia
23 June 2017 – FAO ECTAD Indonesia is supporting the Field Epidemiology Training Programme for Veterinarians (FETPV) in Indonesia in order to strengthen the epidemiological capacity of the Government of Indonesia’s veterinary services. The programme, which is called PELVI, an abbreviation of the programme’s name in Indonesian, was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and FAO ECTAD Indonesia in Tangerang, Indonesia, on 31 May 2017.
The FETPV in Indonesia, which receives financial support from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the USAID-FAO ECTAD Indonesia programme, aims to produce competent field veterinary epidemiologists in the country who can interact with animal owners, investigate, assess, analyse, and report the findings of outbreak investigations effectively and rapidly. The programme is also expected to improve veterinarians’ capacity for animal disease prevention, detection, and response.
Since 2005, Indonesia has been one of the global epicentres for human H5N1 avian influenza infections with more human cases and fatalities than any other country up until 2014. The number of human cases has drastically declined over the past five years, but the endemic situation of H5N1 virus in poultry continues to have a serious economic impact on poultry farming. Therefore, the implementation of FETPV/PELVI receives the full support of the government.
With its complex geographic and demographic attributes, controling animal diseases in Indonesia can be a challenge. Dr Fadjar Sumping, Director of Animal Health of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that Indonesia needed more skilled field veterinary epidemiologists so they could respond faster and more accurately amid all the challenges. “PELVI would be the most appropriate and effective approach to increase veterinary field epidemiology capacity in Indonesia,” he said.
In Asia and the Pacific, a regional FETPV programme has been established in Thailand at the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) with support from the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Since 2009, Indonesia has participated in regional FETPV training with six Indonesian field epidemiologists graduating from the programme. While Indonesia has implemented the field epidemiology training programme (FETP) for public health since 1982, a field epidemiology training programme for veterinarians has not been available until now.
Dr Luuk Schoonman, FAO ECTAD Indonesia Chief Technical Advisor, said "FAO supports the development and implementation of FETPV, in line with the FAO Field Epidemiology Program for Asia and the Pacific in Thailand. The programme is expected to strengthen the capacity of veterinarians in Indonesia.”
As an initial step in the implementation of FETPV, the Ministry of Agriculture will work with Gadjah Mada University’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, where a field epidemiology training programme for public health already exists. Both a modular non-degree FETPV under the Ministry of Agriculture and a degree level FETPV under Gadjah Mada University will be developed.
“To make FETPV succeed in Indonesia, it should create a stage where all stakeholders, government, universities and training institutions, and partners such as FETP, the Indonesian One Health University Network (INDOHUN) and US CDC can play specific roles. It should embrace inter-sectoral One Health collaboration and have strong linkages and cooperation with all institutions involved,” added Dr Schoonman.