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24th Conference of the Regional Commission for Africa (online)
February 15, 2021
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Thanks to the kind offer of the government of Botswana during the 88th General Session of the World Assembly of Delegates of the World Organisation for Animal Health to welcome the Regional Commission in Botswana, it will be my pleasure to welcome you at the 25th Conference of the Regional Commission for Africa that will be held from 20 to 24 February 2023 in Gaborone, Botswana.
This will be the first face to face Conference of the Regional Commission for Africa since February 2019. Thus, we are very enthusiastic about meeting you all in person to reiterate our commitment in ensuring animal health and welfare worldwide as well as continuing to play a key role in global health governance.
The challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the need for more scientific expertise in particular for assessing risks at the human/animal/environment interface, the need for building resilience and capacity in the Veterinary Services to be well prepared to respond to potential future challenges as well as, the need to strengthen existing agreements or establish new ones with key partners to be able to work actively and in coordination for the common good. For this purpose, face to face Regional Conferences facilitate closer contact and more active dialog between Delegates in the Region, the invited experts and with key regional partners along with key WOAH staff who lead the Organisation`s flagship programmes and initiatives. It will be a week to facilitate meaningful debates and networking relationships.
Participation of WOAH Members in the Conferences of the Regional Commissions is therefore very important allowing them to be part of the discussions on topics of regional interest to ensure that all regional inputs are taken into account so that WOAH can provide the most appropriate support to its Members.
As the Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health, I will be honoured to welcome and to accompany all participants during such an important event for Africa Region.
Looking forward to seeing you all in Gaborone!
Dr Monique Eloit
Director General
04:00 p.m. – 06:00 p.m. Arrival of participants
08:00 a.m. – 09:00 a.m. Arrival of participants and distribution of materials for the Rabies workshop
09:00 a.m. – 05:00 p.m. Africa Regional Seminar on Rabies: Towards Elimination of Human Deaths from Dog-Mediated Rabies in Africa by 2030 – Is Africa ready for Zero by Thirty? Browse the agenda here.
10:00 a.m. – 02:00 p.m. Arrival of participants and distribution of materials for the Regional Conference.
08:00 a.m. Arrival of participants and distribution of materials for the Regional Conference (cont.)
08:30 a.m. Welcome Remarks by Dr Mabela Honore N’Lemba, President of the WOAH Regional Commission for Africa and WOAH Delegate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
08:35 a.m. Approval of the Programme
08:50 a.m. WOAH: Improving animal health globally to ensure a better future for all (Dr Monique Eloit, WOAH Director General)
09:20 a.m. Discussion
09:50 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. Opening Session:
01.00 p.m. Posters Session and Lunch Break
02.00 p.m. Analysis of the Animal Health Situation in Members in the region during 2021 and 2022 (Dr Jenny Hutchison, Head of Department, World Animal Health Information and Analysis Departement, WAHIAD)
02.30 p.m. Discussion
03.00 p.m. Technical item I (with questionnaire): Eradication of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) (Dr Henry Wamwayi, animal health consultant)
03.45 p.m. Discussion
04.15 p.m. Posters Session and Break
06:00 p.m. End of the session
07:30 p.m. Dinner offered by the Botswana Government
08:30 a.m. Technical item II (without questionnaire): Elimination of dog-transmitted human rabies from Africa by 2030 – national strategies, legal frameworks, tools to track progress (Prof. Louis Nel, CEO GARC)
09:15 a.m. Discussion
09:45 a.m. One health in Africa – a regional context (Dr Lillian Wambua, WOAH)
10:00 a.m. One Health Joint Plan of Action – Operationalisation under the Framework of the Quadripartite (Dr Chadia Wannous, WOAH)
10.15 a.m. Country experience in operationalisation of One Health strategy/action plan in Cameroon (Dr Conrad Ntoh Nkuo, Permanent Secretary of the National Zoonoses Programme, Cameroon)
10:30 a.m. Break [ Preparation of Recommendation No.2 by designated small group ]
11:00 a.m. Country experience in operationalisation of One Health strategy/action plan in Kenya (Dr Matthew Muturi, Zoonotic Diseases Unit)
11:15 a.m. Country experience in operationalisation of One Health strategy/action plan in Senegal (Dr Papa Serigne Seck, Senior Technical Advisor to the President of Senegal in charge of Animal Health, Livestock and Fisheries)
11.30 a.m. Implementing One Health projects – Experiences and lessons from the EBO-SURSY project (Ms Sophie Muset, WOAH)
11.45 a.m. Discussion
12:00 p.m. Panel discussion : Operationalisation of One Health in Africa (Drs Lillian Wambua and Patrick Bastiaensen, moderators, WOAH)
01:00 p.m. Lunch Break [ Preparation of Recommendation No.2 by designated small group ]
02:00 p.m. User friendly biomarker-based animal trypanosomiasis diagnosis (Dr Merid Getahun, ICIPE)
02:20 p.m. Discussion
02:40 p.m. Occurrence of foot-and-mouth disease in Africa; special reference to incursion of FMD Serotype O into Southern Africa (Dr Mokganedi Mokopasetso, Botswana Vaccine Institute, WOAH Reference Laboratory for FMD)
03:00 p.m. Discussion
03:30 p.m. Twinning as a tool for promoting scientific expertise/excellence (Dr Massimo Scacchia, IZS, WOAH Reference Laboratory)
03:50 p.m. Discussion
04:10 p.m. Veterinary Workforce Development essential for Animal Disease Control/Eradication (Dr Simon Kihu, Programme Officer, WOAH).
04:30 p.m. Discussion
04:50 p.m. Break
05:10 p.m. Discussion of recommendations
05:50 p.m. Proposal of date and venue of the 26th Conference of the Regional Commission for Africa
06:00 p.m. End of the Session
07:00 p.m. Dinner offered by WOAH
08:00 a.m. Control of animal diseases using WOAH international Standards: the Botswana experience
08:30 a.m. Progressing in aligning PPR eradication programmes in Africa from national to continental level
10:30 a.m. Break
11:00 a.m. Progressing in aligning PPR eradication programmes in Africa from national to continental level (cont’d)
12:00 a.m. Lunch break
02:00 p.m. Technical visit (Botswana Vaccine Institute, BVI)
08:30 a.m. Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs): Calculating the economic burden of animal health (Ethiopia case study) (Ms Edna Massay Kallon, GBADs programme lead, WOAH)
09:00 a.m. Discussion
09:30 a.m. Observatory : Evidence-based approach to address Members’ needs and encourage the implementation of international standards (Dr Laure Weber-Vintzel, Head of Department, Data Integration Department, WOAH)
09:45 a.m. Discussion
10:00 a.m. Revision of the Terrestrial Code : process, highlights of the February report and key topics for the Africa region (Dr Etienne Bonbon, President of the Terrestrial Code Commission)
10:30 a.m. Discussion
11:00 a.m. Break
11:30 a.m. Adoption of Recommendations and summary report
12:30 p.m. Closing ceremony
01:00 p.m. Lunch break
