New guide seeks better collaboration at animal-human health interface
A newly released guide developed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to strengthen the capacity worldwide for collaboration and coordination between national public health and national animal health authorities.
More than 60% of infectious diseases in humans are caused by zoonotic pathogens transmitted by domestic or wild animals, according to an OIE press release today. New and emerging pathogens pose ever-enlarging threats to human and animal health, food safety and security, poverty reduction, and biodiversity, says the release, so "preventing diseases at their animal source is crucial for protecting human health."
Both the WHO and OIE continually develop and review intergovernmental regulations and standards for public and animal health, and coordinating the implementation of these is "one of the most critical factor[s] for controlling health hazards worldwide."
The guide gives an overview of and explains how to use frameworks and tools developed by the organizations to help their member countries assess their animal and human health sectors' capacities, identify gaps, and define strategies to address those.
"Countries must be equipped with effective and well organised national health systems which operate under the principles of good governance in order to monitor both animal and public health," the agencies say.
Development of the guide was supported by the World Bank and the European Union.
Oct 3 OIE press release
Oct 3 OIE/WHO guide
New polio cases in Pakistan bring country near its modern-day high
Pakistan, one of three countries in which polio is still endemic, has reported 7 new cases of the disease, bringing the total cases for the year there to 194, only 5 short of its 21st century high of 199 in 2001, according to an Associated Press (AP) story today.
The new cases all occurred in North Waziristan, part of the war-torn Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) where polio vaccine campaigns have been continually thwarted by militants attacking—and, in scores of cases, murdering—health workers and accompanying security personnel. The factions claim the vaccine drives are an act of Western espionage and that the vaccine causes sterility.
Pakistan began a new round of its vaccination campaign this week aimed at reaching all of the country's 34 million children, says the AP story. Workers hope to be able to reach children of families who fled North Waziristan in June when the military launched an attack on the militants.
Afghanistan and Nigeria are the other two polio-endemic nations. A number of imported cases have been reported from nearby countries, bringing the WHO to declare the polio situation a public health emergency of international concern in May.
Oct 3 AP story
May 5 CIDRAP News story on WHO declaration
