Mid-Year 2006 Message from AVIS College
International Action against High Impact Diseases
In the AVIS College 2006 New Year Message we referred to 2006 as the year of uncertainty with respect to infectious animal diseases. During the first half of the year we have witnessed several international studies and plans of actions evolve to address this uncertainty. They raise the hope that international concern about infectious diseases of animals may translate into effective measures for their containment and prevention of spread.
The UK Foresight Project
Another sign of hope came from the UK . In April, the government Office for Science and Innovation released its Foresight assessment of the threat of infectious diseases of humans, animals and plants over the next twenty-five years.
The Foresight project was conducted over a two year period (2004-2006). It focused on the central theme of Infectious Diseases: preparing for the future. A key objective was to determine how science and technology can improve global capability to detect, identify and monitor infectious diseases, in order to better manage the risks attendant on them.
The study team examined infectious diseases from a global perspective, with special emphasis on the UK , sub-Saharan Africa and China . More than 300 experts from some 30 countries were involved, including representatives from international organisations such as WHO, FAO, OIE, the African Union, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Gatsby Foundation.
A formal Report was presented at a conference, held at the Royal Society, May 3, 2006, the chosen venue giving a good indication of the degree of importance attached by the UK to the Foresight project. Speakers were drawn from those who had been responsible for coordinating the various strands of the project, including Professor Mark Rweyemamu, the distinguished AVIS Technical Director, and himself a Tanzanian.
The Report may be accessed at www.foresight.gov.uk. It is in five parts:
- Executive Summary
- Science Reviews
- Future Threats
- Africa
- Future Vision for Detection, Identification and Monitoring Systems.
It is underpinned by 97 papers arising from commissioned researches and reviews.
The Report highlights four “User Challenges” for the emerging technologies, namely:
- Novel information technology for the capture, analysis and modelling of data for the early detection of infectious disease events
- Using genomics and post genomics
- Smart swabs or hand held devices that particularly analyse fluids
- High throughput screening for infectious diseases of people, animals and plants.
In the context of these challenges, the Report lays out a range of key choices for policy makers both in terms of technology developments and also the environment and governing ethics for their application. It shows how future technologies for the detection, identification and monitoring of infectious diseases converge, irrespective of end use, whether for human, animal or plant diseases. It highlights the importance of policy strategies that target controlling infectious diseases at their source whether geographically, which means predominantly in developing countries, or in terms of species, which, for the emerging human diseases, means animals. The Report also highlights the likely disease risk trends in relation to climate change, societal attitudes and governance.
G8 Communiqué
One outcome of the Foresight study has been a joint submission by the UK Office of Science and Innovation, FAO and OIE to the Russian Presidency of the G8 that culminated in a G8 communiqué on infectious diseases http://en.g8russia.ru/docs/10.html, with a far clearer commitment to the issue than hitherto.
Operational Progress
At the operational level, we have witnessed such new developments as the launching of the Joint FAO-OIE-WHO Global Early Warning and Response System for Transboundary Animal Diseases and Zoonoses and the FAO/OIE Global Crisis Management Centre at FAO Headquarters in Rome. These are warmly welcomed.
Knowledge Management and Knowledge Transfer: The AVIS Contribution
A vital requirement for effective management of the risk of infectious diseases will be knowledge management and knowledge transfer. AVIS programs and tools are intended to make a contribution in this role.
Julian Hilton |
Malika Moussaid |
Apostolos Rantsios |
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William A. Geering |
Mark M. Rweyemamu |
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