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FAO/OIE Global Strategy to control Foot-and-Mouth Disease benefits farmers and consumers
Farmers and
consumers stand to benefit from a new global strategy to control the
spread of a deadly livestock disease that was endorsed today by
representatives from more than 100 countries and international donors at
a conference in Bangkok organized by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for
Animal Health (OIE) with support from Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture
and Cooperatives.
More than 1 billion smallholder farmers around the world
depend on livestock for their livelihoods, but outbreaks of
Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) inflict an estimated annual global loss of
US$5 billion.
Developing countries are often hardest hit by FMD, a
highly-contagious viral disease, with small farmers suffering
devastating impacts to their earnings and survival. Consumers are also
affected as they pay more for milk, meat and other foodstuffs when FMD
fells livestock.
Foot-and-mouth disease affects cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other ruminants, as well as a number of wildlife species.
The global strategy developed by FAO and OIE advises
countries on their risk management policy for controlling FMD outbreaks,
allowing them to take early steps to prevent the disease from spreading
to other farms, communities and across borders.
Partnerships needed for capacity development
The Strategy will make a big impact not only on decreasing
the ravage of FMD, but improve countries' situation with regard to many
other diseases, some which affect human health directly, the joint
FAO/OIE statement added.
“For the Global Strategy to succeed it needs more than the
partnership of FAO and OIE; it needs the producers and marketing sectors
to participate as well as the veterinary services, the pharmaceutical
and vaccine companies, and it will need sustained support from financial
institutions and the generosity of funders,” FAO’s assistant
director-general Hiroyuki Konuma told those attending the three-day FAO/OIE Global Conference on Foot-and-Mouth Disease Control, which ran from 27 to 29 June.
High-level officials from regional and international
organizations participated in the discussions over the strategy at the
Bangkok conference, along with experts and donors. The conference was
the second on FMD, with the first having taken place in Asunción,
Paraguay in 2009.
As the world population expands from just under 7 billion
people today to more than 9 billion in 2050, demand for milk, meat and
animal-based products will rise steeply in the years to come. The vast
majority of that increasing demand will come from developing countries
and emerging economies in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This growth
will also be driven by steadily improving incomes in those same areas.
In 2050, demand for meat is expected to surge by 76 percent,
while demand for dairy will increase by 62 percent. The world will have
to produce 65 percent more eggs than produced today to meet soaring
demand.
Aiming for FMD freedom
With cross-border trade also increasing, the transboundary
nature of FMD is a regional threat that requires regional approaches and
responses.
“Foot-and-mouth disease is not a priority in many countries,
but when it strikes damages are enormous, ranging from losses in
production to culling of animals and trade bans. Good governance of
national Veterinary Services using the OIE PVS Pathway is a critical
element of mitigating foot-and-mouth disease with a positive impact on
food security and poverty. Besides global control is in the interest of
FMD-free countries because it avoids reintroduction of the disease on
their territory,” OIE Director-General Bernard Vallat told the
conference.
Included in the process is OIE official recognition of
national control programmes and of FMD freedom: today 66 out of 178 OIE
member countries are free from FMD.
Even developed countries that were previously free of the
disease, can suffer outbreaks of FMD: a severe event in the United
Kingdom in 2001 caused losses of as much as $30 billion, and a 1997
epidemic in the Taiwan province of China cost $15 billion.
The Global Strategy will also promote and strengthen FMD
control through the improvement of national veterinary services
responsible for animal disease control, so that they can comply with OIE
standards on quality. The Strategy is an opportunity to initiate
actions that will have beneficial consequences far beyond the control of
just one disease. Veterinary services will be better able to combat and
prevent other major diseases affecting livestock and other animals.
The Global Strategy is expected to produce three results:
• FMD is controlled in most countries and eliminated in some of them
• Veterinary services and their infrastructures are improved
• Prevention and control of other major diseases of livestock are improved
The Global Strategy includes the development of regional
vaccine banks (e.g. OIE regional vaccine bank for Southeast Asia, FAO’s
Animal Production and Health Commission for Asia, etc.) and centres for
quality control for developing countries. Other measures include
improving the efficiency of surveillance systems, capacity of
laboratories, quality control of vaccines and movement control of
animals.
Source: FAO/OIE Joint Press Release
