OIE/FAO Regional Workshop on Trainers’ Training on HPAI Surveillance and Control (Bangkok, Thailand, 23-24 July 2007)
The Workshop was attended by 38 people including delegates of national governments of this Project, under the OIE/Japan Special Trust Fund, for training field veterinarians and para-professionals (namely two government officials were invited by OIE from national central bureaus and from local offices who are involved in the training of local veterinarians and para-professionals), and Chief Technical Advisors of the FAO country representations, from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, observers and organisers.
The Workshop aimed at updating the situation of training local veterinarians and para-professionals in surveillance and control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), and the outcome of the Workshop resulted in the practical planning of National Trainers’ Training Courses for those local people.
Opening remarks were made by Dr Chaweewan Leowijuk, Chief Veterinary Officer and Deputy Director General, Department of Livestock Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand, Dr Teruhide Fujita, Regional Representative, OIE Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific, Tokyo and Dr Laurence Gleeson, Regional ECTAD Manager, FAO Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok. All of them highlighted the importance of HPAI control through the effective training of local veterinarians and para-professionals (animal health workers).
From the OIE side, Drs Shiro Yoshimura (OIE Bangkok), Mat Yamage and Ikuo Koike (both OIE Technical Consultants) reported the concept of OIE Code on surveillance and animal health, HPAI control strategies, lessons learned on diagnosis, containment of the disease, vaccination, surveillance and communication.
From the FAO side, FAO’s experiences in training at the filed level in Indonesia and Laos was presented.
The host country, Thailand, spoke about lessons learned from the successful control of HPAI and trainers’ training courses in the country.
Participants from the invited countries and FAO Chief Technical Advisors (CTAs) discussed the current status of HPAI in the respective countries, their experiences in training and constraints against effective implementation of training and control measures for HPAI.
The Workshop put much emphasis on the importance of training local veterinarians and para-professionals on HPAI strategic surveillance in line with the agreed concept with the donor (OIE and the Government of Japan).
The Workshop discussed further development of trainers’ training and recommended the following:
- Trainers’ training courses should be organised by OIE in collaboration with FAO at a national level.
- The objective of the national training courses is to establish national resources to provide further training on surveillance for local (field) veterinarians and para-professionals.
- The design of trainers’ training courses should be linked with the plan for overall training according to the country needs under the national HPAI control strategies and implementation frame.
- Training should be considered as an issue of crosscutting various needs for surveillance. Therefore, there should be an integrated approach to ensure that all necessary subjects including communication skills and training methodologies for a particular level of trainees should be included in the curriculum as appropriate. In addition, follow-up activities should be provided to ensure the utilisation of the training inputs by trainees.
- Training should be organised in a collaborative and synergistic manner with existing donors and be coherent with past and ongoing activities.
- Targeted approaches should be considered to ensure cost effectiveness of the training and sustainable results.
- Training courses should be designed to ensure that quality control and evaluation process are in place.
- Experts with technical and practical experiences in HPAI control at country and regional levels should be selected as resource persons for the trainers’ training.
- Selection criteria of trainees should also be considered for effective management of training courses.
- Training materials should be prepared in consultation with experts to ensure quality and practicality. Existing training materials should be reviewed and utilised as materials for this trainers’ training, and those should be translated into local languages.
The national level training courses will be organised by OIE in September-October 2007, in collaboration with FAO, in particular, in consultation with and with participation of CTAs in the respective countries.