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On this 80th General Session the OIE World Assembly representing 178 Member Countries elected Dr. Karin Schwabenbauer as President for a three-year term,
Dr
Schwabenbauer from Germany is the first woman
elected in this position in the history of The organisation; she succeeds Dr Carlos Correa Messuti from Uruguay who was elected in 2009,
The Delegates also elected or re-elected 8 other members of the Council,
as well as members of the five Regional Commissions dnd of four technical Specialist Commissions also for a
three-year term. OIE criteria for scientific
excellence and geographical Distribution
of elected members have been fully
respected.
More than 600 participants, representing OIE Member Countries, as well as many international, intergovernmental (FAO, WHO, World Bank, WTO, etc.), regional and national organisations took part in the event.
High-ranking authorities, including numerous Ministers of OIE Member Countries also honoured the Assembly with their presence, shared their perspectives and strongly supported OlE's objectives.
Guest
speaker Mr. Robert
Horsch, high official of
the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke of the
Foundation's recently approved
"Livestock Overview and Approach", which notably
stresses the important cooperation of fthe Foundation with the OIE in relevant fields to improving animal health
and welfare around the world with a benefit
to poverty alleviation, including creating
change in the existing regulatory animal health systems and a new approach in the use of vaccine banks.
One technical item of major importance was intensely debated during the Session:
National and international experiences and roles m previous and future
developments in the "One Health"
approach. It
emphasized the
importance of addressing new and emerging
diseases at the animal source as a
critical element for food security, health protection and economic prosperity.
Official recognition of OIE Members’
animal disease status
The national Delegates approved the new list of countries or zones that had applied for official OIE recognition of their status with respect to one or more of three priority diseases bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), foot and mouth disease (FMD) and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP).
With regard to
BSE, the OIE
recognised Croatia and Nicaragua as having a "controlled BSE risk" status. Austria, Belgium, Brazil and Colombia were recognised as having a "negligible risk" status.
The region ol the Altiplano of Bolivia was the only new zone recognised as being free of
foot and mouth disease without vaccination. National control programmes for FMD control were approved by OIE. Programmes proposed by Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia were officially approved.
OIE scientific network and capacity building
With 6 completed
projects and another 37 approved or
underway, Delegates welcomed the
success of OIE's Twinning
Programme, an initiative that encourages the exchange of competencies
and experience between countries hosting OIE Reference Laboratories
and Collaborating Centres already recognised and other laboratories from
in-transition or developing countries which are candidates far this future
position. The programme enables the latter to develop their laboratories and
centres of excellence, thereby strengthening their national veterinary
scientific community and contributing to enhanced global biological security.
In this
respect, the Delegates accredited one new Collaborating Centre and eleven new
Reference Centres Laboratories, bringing the number
of official centres of scientific excellence within the OIE worldwide network
to 276.
In line with OlE's continuous engagement in
supporting Veterinary Services to comply with standards on quality adopted by
the OIE, 109 PVS (Performance of Veterinary Services) minions for the
evaluation of the performance of Veterinary Services were carried out worldwide
since May 2006 using the OIE PVS Tool as well as 58 PVS Gap analysis missions
and 28 missions supporting the modernisation of national legislations.
New international standards and guidelines
The OIE
received Member Countries' support for its work addressing
needs in veterinary educatton and veterinary legislation, which art
key elements in strengthening the good governance of animal health systems. The
OIE, in collaboration with an expert group comprising deans of veterinary
schools from the five continents has developed a list of minimum competencies
for all veterinary graduates worldwide.
The OIE
is also encouraging countries to take steps to strengthen veterinary
legislation based on OIE guidelines, and to establish or improve within this
framework, their national Vsierinary Statutory Body.
Fully aligned with societal expectations and
as a commitment to advancing animal welfare worldwide, the Assembly adopted new
guiding principles on animal welfare in relation to
livestock production systems, and a new Terrestrial
Code chapter on welfare of beef cattle. Many new standards on terrestrial and aquatic animal diseases as well
as on the quality of Veterinary
Services were also adopted.
World animal
disease situation
The
worldwide animal health situation covering more than 100 diseases of
terrestrial or aquatic animals was examined, In particular, Delegates were
presented with an expert review on the emerging Schmallenberg virus, a new
virus that was active in the fall and winter 2011-2012 across Western Europe.
The OIE Director General also announced the
imminent launch of OlE's new modernised version of the World
Animal Health Information System, WAHIS for animal disease reporting.
International solidarity
Mory
Kante, Guinean vocalist of international renown, was a
guest of this 80th OIE General Session. Well
known for his involvement in the fight against hunger
and poverty, Mr. Kante performed with his kora harp the day of the inaugural
session in celebration of the historical mission of the OIE in favour
of global solidarity to address food security. The World Veterinary Day Award 2Q12h
whose theme was "antimicrobial resistance", was presented to the
Turkish Veterinary Medical Association.
Source: OIE
Press Release
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