Regional training strengthens animal disease reporting capacities among French-speaking African WAHIS focal points

Opening remarks were provided by the representative of the Ivorian Minister Mrs Haïda Kaly Fadiga – Diarrassouba (Conseiller Technique en charge de la santé Animales et de l’Hygiène Publique Vétérinaire), Mr Garba Tinni Kailou (representing Dr Karim Tounkara, the WOAH Regional Representative for Africa), Dr Vessaly Kallo, CVO (WOAH Delegate, Côte d’Ivoire) and Dr Peter Melens (Deputy Head of the World Animal Health Information and Analysis Department WAHIAD).

They all emphasised the importance of transparency and consistency in disease notification to strengthen veterinary governance and evidence-based decision-making across the continent.

The 3-day workshop aimed to:

1. To train the national WOAH focal points for animal disease notification to be important stewards in their respective countries/territories with respect to disease reporting;
2. To inform WOAH focal points about reporting requirements and the nature of information using WAHIS as well as to appropriately consult the system;
3. To provide a forum for the national WOAH focal points for animal disease notification to interact with each other and WOAH staff, towards improving disease notifications across the region;
4. To support the national WOAH focal points for animal disease notification in building and participating in networks at the national, sub-regional, regional, and global scales;
5. To train WOAH national focal points for animal disease notification on the optimised system for reporting information at Member level using WAHIS;
6. To collect user feedback to feed into future system and reporting requirements and adequate support.

The sessions provided hands-on exercises on key WAHIS modules, including immediate notifications (IN), follow-up (FU) reports, six-monthly reports (SMR) and annual reports and familiarised participants with the system’s public interface and support desk. Trainers guided attendees through real-time simulations, enabling them to draft and submit reports, analyse data, and understand reporting obligations as outlined in the WOAH Codes.

The post-training assessments revealed a marked improvement in participants’ knowledge, with the highest gains observed in understanding the Annual Report module (up by 44%). Feedback indicated over 90% satisfaction with the training’s content, facilitation, and logistics.

This regional initiative represents a major step toward building a stronger network of trained Focal Points across Africa, contributing to improved disease surveillance, reporting, and regional cooperation in line with WOAH’s global mission for animal health transparency. It followed a similar Regional training to strengthen animal disease reporting capacities among National Focal Points for animal disease notification from English-speaking African countries, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September 2025.