News

From 18 to 20 October 2016, regional OIE workshop “Regional Workshop for Advanced Training on the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) for National Focal Points for Animal Disease Notification to the OIE” was held in the Republic of Armenia.

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) organized the workshop with the active support of the official veterinary services of the Republic of Armenia (the Veterinary Inspectorate of the State Service for Food Safety of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia). Representatives from 53 European countries involved into the OIE notification process took part in the workshop.

Despite the efforts taken by the OIE to assist member countries in notification to the OIE, the countries still face challenges when preparing, collecting and sending information.

The OIE recognizes the importance of developing competences of the veterinary services involved into notification on global epizootic issues in order to facilitate understanding of this process, to increase quality of the provided data and to improve notification process.

The OIE workshop is also a platform for the countries and the OIE Information Department to discuss effective use of WAHIS and to exchange relevant experience.

Thus, the OIE put forward a proposal that two countries, most advanced in notification and reporting, should share their experience:

Based on the OIE invitation Andrei Oganesyan, focal point for animal disease notification to the OIE, expert from the FGBI ARRIAH subordinated to the Rosselkhoznadzor, took part in the workshop on behalf of the Russian Federation.

The reports provided by the Russian and Norwegian sides and the proposed recommendations on improvement of reporting system were commended by the OIE Department for Analysis and Information and by the workshop participants.

The workshop also helped to improve technical skills of the national focal points in WAHIS use and it facilitated the process of sending urgent and periodic reports on animal diseases to the OIE countries.

Better understanding of how effectively use information from WAHIS the OIE Codes (Terrestrial and Aquatic Codes) in order to make decisions on disease notifications will help to ensure more international transparency among member–states on international level.

Press office FGBI ARRIAH