EcoHealth resource centres planned for Southeast Asia region

The EcoHealth approach to the prevention and control of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases in the Southeast Asia region project is one of the EcoHealth projects on infectious diseases currently supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Southeast Asia.

The key objective of the project is capacity building of researchers to apply EcoHealth principles into research through ‘learning-by-doing’.

Six research proposals are being finalized currently, each developed using a transdisciplinary approach.

EcoHealth has been defined as holistic, participatory approaches to understanding and promoting heath and wellbeing in the context of social and ecological interactions. 

EcoHealth approaches see the health of humans as dependent on – and inextricably linked with – the health of animals and the ecosystem.

A new project component has recently been added with the donor’s approval, whereby the project will support the setting up of two EcoHealth Resource Centres within the Southeast Asia region; at Chiang Mai University in Thailand and at the University of Gadjah Mada in Indonesia.

The aim is to promote institutionalization of EcoHealth within these centres that would conduct training and mentoring, assisting the capacity building efforts of the project's researchers, and providing for researchers and key actors involved in other EcoHealth projects.

Currently their focus will be on infectious/zoonotic diseases but ultimately they should become involved in other aspects of EcoHealth, including climate change.

For more information about this project, please contact Dr Jeffrey Gilbert (j.gilbert @ cgiar.org)

Indonesia stakeholders review outputs of study on bird flu risk reduction

Stakeholders in Indonesia have called for education of poultry farmers, traders and transporters; greater public awareness; and strengthening of institutional capacity as key measures towards implementing pro-poor risk reduction strategies against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the country.

The call was made during a final project workshop held in Bogor, Indonesia last week (5-6 August 2010) to mark the end of research activities of the Indonesia component of a project on pro-poor HPAI risk reduction strategies.

The two-year project is supported by the UK Department of International Development (DFID) and is implemented in Asia (Indonesia) and Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria).

The workshop was held to review project activities and key research outputs, as well as to propose key recommendations for future research collaboration.

About 40 participants were in attendance, drawn from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Indonesia Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).

Also present were stakeholders from local universities such as Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and Bogor Agricultural University, poultry industry/farmers, and international researchers and donors implementing or supporting similar projects in the country.

Project activities whose results were reviewed included

• qualitative and quantitative assessment of the risk of transmission of HPAI between small-scale broiler farms;
• value chain analysis focusing on a range of poultry products including local and commercial live birds, eggs, spent layers and ducks;
• analysis of degree of compliance of backyard and small-scale poultry producers with HPAI control measures;
• review of institutional response capacity to HPAI;
• qualitative and quantitative assessment of impacts of HPAI on livelihoods;
• analysis of willingness to pay for control measures;
• cost-benefit analysis; and
• communication and advocacy activities.

The key recommendations discussed at the workshop included the need to encourage uptake of basic biosecurity measures through education, provision of targeted subsidies, development of professional producer and trader associations with certification schemes, and identification of ways of encouraging prompt reporting of outbreaks.

Livelihoods studies highlighted the need for campaigns to improve the level of awareness of HPAI risks and encourage behaviour change.

The meeting also acknowledged that the ad hoc institutions that were set up after the initial HPAI outbreaks played a key role in the dissemination of information.

The Indonesia National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (KOMNAS FBPI) is one such institution, which brought together animal and human health authorities in implementing a joint response to the pandemic.

It was recommended that these types of institutions be integrated into the relevant government departments throughout the country’s administrative units. These recommendations will be further developed in consultation with the MoA.

IFPRI will take the lead role in developing and disseminating communication and advocacy materials. The project will also develop an 8-minute video to capture the main messages generated. Future research and potential publications will be discussed in a feedback meeting with the MoA scheduled for October 2010.

In a courtesy meeting during the workshop, the Director General for Livestock Services in Jakarta, Dr Tjeppy Soedjana, was briefed about the project objectives and achievements and emphasized his interest in future collaboration with ILRI, IFPRI and RVC.

For more information about the project and to view the project reports, please visit the project web page.

Contributed by Bernard Bett and Fred Unger

New approach to bird flu control in Indonesia featured in 'Science' journal

An article in the 5 January 2007 issue of Science features ILRI's Jeffrey Mariner and partners who are using a new approach -- participatory epidemiology -- in the fight against avian influenza in Indonesia.

The article by Dennis Normile, Indonesia taps village wisdom to fight bird flu, is available online at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/315/5808/30.