Jordan Daily – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the PPR Secretariat from FAO headquarters in Rome and the Ministry of Agriculture, is hosting a consultative meeting aimed at enhancing veterinary services in the Middle East. Representatives from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine, Oman, Syria, and Jordan are participating in the event, which is funded by the European Commission (EC).
The three-day meeting focuses on the PPR monitoring and evaluation tool and the laboratory/epidemiology network for the region. It aims to clarify the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders in using and implementing the PPR Monitoring and Assessment Tool (PMAT) as part of the global strategy to eradicate Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) by 2030.
Eng. Nabil Assaf, FAO’s representative, emphasized the importance of collaboration with the PPR Secretariat to reach the goal of eradicating PPR. He highlighted the need to identify and plan regional surveillance and diagnostic capabilities and improve coordination and knowledge exchange between countries through epidemiology networks and laboratories.
Engineer Mesbah Tarawneh, the Assistant Secretary General for Livestock at the Ministry of Agriculture, underscored the economic impact of PPR, which is endemic in most Arab countries. He noted the significant losses caused by the disease and the necessity of joint efforts to combat and eradicate it.
The workshop will include discussions on the PMAT, the epidemiological situation of PPR in participating countries, and the development of epidemiological and laboratory networks to facilitate information transfer and exchange between nations.
