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News > Jakarta November 7, 2006
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MOA Pledges Strong Commitment in the Fight Against Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
Jakarta, November 7, 2006, Ministry of Agriculture — The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) today announced a restructure of the Avian Influenza (AI) Campaign Management Unit (CMU) with stronger commitment and closer collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The announcement was made after the first meeting of the new CMU chaired by Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono.
“We have to work closely together so that our efforts are strengthened and our goal of containing the disease in the poultry population is achieved,” he said.
The key highlights which emerged from the First CMU meeting include regular and timely sharing of information on disease outbreaks with the international community; strengthening disease surveillance and response capacity; and establishment of regional campaign management units to implement aggressive programme of AI prevention and control.
To ensure transparency and regular sharing of information on outbreaks of the disease and virus isolates, the new CMU includes representatives of FAO AI country team as members. The CMU was first set up earlier this year to provide policy and technical advice, and leadership for the national campaign to control AI. The unit has now been expanded to include additional senior staff.
The MOA is also working towards strengthening disease surveillance and response through expansion of the participatory disease surveillance and response (PDS-PDR) teams who investigate disease outbreaks and carry out prevention and control activities including public awareness, culling, compensation and vaccination.
The PDS-PDR programme, established as a pilot in four areas in Java, is now expanding to 159 districts on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali. This approach uses specially trained veterinary officials to undertake field investigations with the strong support of local communities. It has proved to be very effective.
Communities have been very supportive and have contributed to a better understanding of the disease situation. Up to 15 September 2006, the PDS-PDR teams detected 364 outbreaks of AI. The disease has now been confirmed in 30 out of 33 provinces; 216 out of 444 districts in the country.
To effectively control AI, the MOA is initially establishing Regional Management Units (RMU) in North Sumatra and Bali. The objective of the RMUs are to systematically coordinate AI prevention and control activities from raising public awareness to implementing vaccination with all sectors of society from the local communities to the district and provincial governments, and the private sector.
“Eradication of AI will not be easy. It will take time and commitment. All of us have a role to play in protecting ourselves and our poultry,” said Dr Anton.
For further information, please contact:
Central AI Disease Control Unit
Ministry of Agriculture
Ph. (021) 7812624 / 68316719
SMS Gateway : 08176677161
Email : upp_ai@yahoo.co.id
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