FAO has provided support to the national veterinary services at all levels including providing additional staff and staff training to the Department of Animal Health, Regional Animal Health Offices and provincial Sub-Departments of Animal Health. Long-term epidemiological skills and capacity are being developed through a specialized epidemiology training programme, a partnership between FAO, the Department of Animal Health and the Veterinary School at Hanoi Agriculture University which will focus on field epidemiology skills and feature mentoring and field projects of participating provincial trainees.

Strengthening Capacity in the Veterinary Services for Animal Disease Control

In close collaboration with the Department of Animal Health, FAO commenced a capacity building initiative on risk analysis, targeting Provincial Animal Health Departments and Regional Animal Health Officers. This represents a major pillar of the future FAO strategy. A risk-based approach supports appropriate resource allocation for disease control programmes, optimizing the targeting and impact of control measures. An inter-active training programme combines a formal training course together with case-study, field-based training.

The initial training will be followed up by FAO and the Department of Animal Health with risk analysis exercises in pilot provinces and the development of a Department of Animal Health in-service training programme on risk-based approaches, building capacity to design effective strategic disease control programmes for priority livestock and zoonotic diseases.

FAO also assisted the Government of Viet Nam to enhance surveillance on and pig-related diseases by helping to establish the swine health status in the country, investigate outbreaks, build diagnostic capacity and study the effects of the disease on market activity.

Strategic Planning for Animal Health

FAO has facilitated annual strategic disease control planning meetings which have brought policy makers, researchers and provincial implementers together to share information and identify future directions for disease control. These meetings have also permitted cross-programme participation and coordination with USAID funded work and the World Bank VAHIP project.

FAO has also engaged experts from the region and globally to provide technical inputs and share lessons learned and experiences from other countries who are also fighting HPAI.

In order to strengthen veterinary capacity of Viet Nam for control of transboundary animal diseases, FAO in Viet Nam organizes training programmes at regular intervals for prevention and control of HPAI and other emerging diseases of livestock. Internationally reputed experts are brought in for conducting these training programmes besides its own expertise available at site.