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Posted: 6th November 2013

Report uncovers the barriers to disease control
IFAH calls for a joint approach to overcome key issues

Joint efforts are needed to minimise the risks of emerging and re-emerging animals diseases, according to a report by the International Federation for Animal Health (IFAH).

The report, titled "Emerging and re-emerging animal diseases - barriers to disease control", launched at a stakeholder event held at the Royal Society in London.

It concludes that further investment is needed in education, research and institutional effectiveness - both locally and globally - in order to reduce the risks to animal and human health and encourage long-term economic growth.

Three dominant barriers to effective disease control are examined in the report - barriers to research and development; barriers to commercialisation; and barriers to the use of veterinary medicines.

IFAH commissioned global analysis and advisory firm, Oxford Analytica, who were supported by a group of independent experts in animal health, to examine these barriers.

Key barriers to research were the high cost of developing medicines and a lack of veterinary experts to carry out diagnostic controls, leading to inefficiencies in responses to disease outbreaks. Additionally, the development of vaccines was found to be hindered by the constantly changing nature of virus strains.

According to the report, overly burdensome regulations and lack of streamlined approval processes cause delays and increase costs of bringing veterinary medicines to market.

Furthermore, the use of veterinary medicines was found to be facing a lack of government support and logistical problems in the distribution and availability of the medicines.

Mike McGowan, IFAH's acting executive director and programme chair, noted that rapid increases in the human population and wealth have led to unprecedented demand for livestock products. The risk of further serious epidemics will grow, he says, as pathogens evolve and mutate.

Given that 75 per cent of emerging animal diseases are zoonotic, Mr McGowan stressed that this will impact both animal and human health.

"IFAH commissioned this white paper as a launch point for wider collaborative discussions with international stakeholders on what future efforts would be required to overcome barriers that limit our ability to control emerging and re-emerging diseases," Mr McGowan said.

"Regulatory harmonisation, empowering veterinarians, public-private partnerships and cooperation between the animal and human health sectors are vital to ensure that we can respond to and control disease outbreaks."

The full report can be downloaded here.




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