Technical and financial support to be given in Vietnam to keep humans and animals safe from diseases

A signing ceremony to celebrate the commencement of the project "Emerging Pandemic Threats 2 (EPT2): Risk Mitigation and Management of Human Health Threats along Animal Value Chains" is taking place in Hanoi with the presence of FAO Viet Nam, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and USAID Viet Nam. The Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) Programme within FAO Viet Nam will support MARD, specifically with the Departments of Animal Health (DAH), Livestock Production (DLP), and CITES Management Authority of the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry to implement this new project.

The four main components of the project include: 1) One Health Mechanisms and Collaboration; 2) Disease Risk Reduction Along Livestock Value Chains from Farms to Chopsticks; 3) Surveillance for Disease Prevention and Control; and 4) Cross-border collaborations in the Lower Mekong and Red River Deltas to Prevent Disease Spread. While this project focuses largely on disease prevention and control, it will also contribute to food safety, food security and improved livelihoods for livestock farmers.

"Our new project will be built upon a long standing successful Avian Influenza emergency response programme previously implemented by the ECTAD country team and they will once again play an important role in carrying out FAO collaboration and support in Viet Nam." stated Mr. Jong Ha Bae, the Country Representative of FAO Viet Nam.

"Past collaborations between MARD and FAO have resulted in drastically reducing the impacts of avian influenza virus on poultry and people by improving capacity to detect and respond to avian influenza. However, after surviving the crisis surrounding the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), the need for a fundamentally sustainable approach to fight against not only avian influenza, but also other livestock and zoonotic transboundary diseases has emerged. Success of this program will also depend on collaboration with public health partners as some diseases of concern can transmit to people" said Dr. Scott Newman, the Senior Technical Coordinator of FAO ECTAD Viet Nam.

For more inforamtion please contact

• Ms. Ki Jung Min - Outreach Coordinator, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Tel: 84-4- 38501830 (Ext 0394), Email: kijung.min@fao.org