The OIE and FAO strengthen collaboration for the global control of African swine fever
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) have committed to creating a discussion forum between the public and private sectors to discuss the latest findings and actions to control African swine fever (ASF).
This commitment emerged during the celebration of the global event “Stop PPA: Public and private partnerships for success,” which brought together more than 1,300 participants from 132 countries to identify opportunities for collaboration that can help prevent and better control the disease. It highlighted the importance of public-private partnership and the need for greater involvement from industry leaders as key factors for success. The virtual event included 16 pre-recorded videos and two live discussions on June 21 and 28, 2021, and its conclusions are expected to be available soon, with key opportunities for public-private partnership identified.
Millions of losses due to PPA in the last two years
The current ASF crisis has resulted in more than millions of animal losses in the past two years and has compromised the livelihoods of families that depend on pig farming. Although the disease does not present direct risks to human health, it represents a barrier for the livestock sector to reach its full potential, create employment and alleviate poverty.
When it comes to tackling African swine fever, public-private partnership is a key priority, as the swine value chain includes not only pig farmers but also all those involved in sourcing, processing, marketing, and marketing of inputs, as well as consumption. Therefore, better knowledge sharing, increased awareness, and trust between public and private stakeholders are crucial to implementing efficient and coordinated ASF control strategies.
Keep up the momentum
To maintain momentum and strengthen public and private partnerships against the PPA, a dedicated web platform has been created for the event that will remain accessible until March 2022. It shows all the recordings of the live sessions and resource documents intended to stimulate the dialogue of different areas of work in the control of the PPA, with topics that go from transversal concepts of public-private partnership to its operationalization by relevant sectors.
FAO and OIE will continue to organize partnership events by theme and region to ensure that stakeholders from the public and private sectors continue to collaborate and build lasting working relationships.
Veterinary services have been hampered
While current travel restrictions due to COVID-19 have limited the spread of African swine fever, the current situation has hampered the ability of veterinary services to address animal diseases. However, ASF remains a top priority for the Global Framework for Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TAD) partners and the different stakeholders who participated in more than 150 activities and 18 webinars during last year.
FAO and OIE continue to implement activities under the GF-TAD umbrella and combine forces globally to strengthen animal health systems through global initiatives. Recently published, the first annual report for the global control of African swine fever fosters solidarity and cooperation between countries with different experiences and resources and highlights the progress made by showing some of the activities carried out to contain the spread of this devastating swine disease in 2020.
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