Bangladesh is considered as one of the hotspots for emerging diseases of animal origin. A number of zoonotic diseases and diseases with high economic impact, including highly pathogenic avian influenza, anthrax, brucellosis, foot and mouth diseases, are endemic in Bangladesh and pose a serious threat to public health and food security. It is therefore considered important that Bangladesh strengthens its veterinary services and epidemiological capacity for undertaking surveillance and outbreak investigations and improve preparedness for prevention and control of infectious diseases.
In collaboration with the Bangladesh government, the Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET)/Global Health Development (GHD), a regional initiative created to support countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) and to strengthen their health systems to respond to public health challenges and threats, intends to support the development of a Field Epidemiology Training Program for Veterinarians (FETP-V) in Bangladesh to improve its capacity to detect, monitor and respond to outbreaks of potentially dangerous zoonotic diseases.
A two-day ‘Stakeholders’ Workshop for Field Epidemiology Training Program for Veterinarian (FETPV) in Bangladesh’, held in January in Dhaka, was the first step to sensitise the relevant partners to understand the value of such a programme in Bangladesh and prepare a plan to move forward to develop a FETPV for Bangladesh.
Professor Dirk Pfeiffer (Chair Professor of One Health) attended the workshop as a facilitator alongside other experts, together with 33 senior officials from Bangladesh’s Department of Livestock Services, its Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, universities and development partners. The workshop combined presentations, discussions, and question and answer sessions as well as group work. Prof. Pfeiffer shared his experience in developing the FETP-V programme in China and veterinary epidemiology courses in Vietnam. He illustrated the delivery mode of FETP-V in China and the challenges that were faced during its implementation. He suggested adopting a structured and stepwise development and delivery process for veterinary epidemiology capacity building in Bangladesh.
All participants strongly endorsed the need for an FETP-V programme in Bangladesh and made commitments towards its implementation
