Northern Lao PDR FMD Project

Northern Lao PDR FMD Project

Lao PDR’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the OIE Sub-Regional Representation for South-East Asia (SRR-SEA)launched on 21 July 2014 a new project that aims to control Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in cattle and buffaloes in northern and central provinces. The Northern Lao PDR FMD Project is a USD3.4 million project that aims to vaccinate 80 per cent of the cattle and buffalo against FMD in 26 high-risk districts in northern Lao PDR and XiengKhouang Province. The Project’s goal is to have zero outbreaks of FMD in these provinces by 2016.

The Project has been developed in order to address the enormous threat presented by increased cross-border movement of animals through Northern Lao PDR. FMD outbreaks caused significant financial losses to farmers in Lao PDR due to morbidity, cost of treatment and mortality, not to mention other indirect costs such as additional feed and time spent for taking care of sick animals. Estimates of the financial cost of FMD per household could exceed USD 1,200 which took into account only the costs of treatment and losses due to morbidity and mortality. This would go up significantly if indirect costs were considered.

H.E.Dr.PhetPhomphiphak, Vice-Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of Lao PDR, cited the many benefits the Project will bring to the country in general and to the farmers and traders in particular. Having animals that are free of FMD will bring increased sources of livelihoods, poverty reduction and food security. Increased productivity in livestock, according to the Minister, will also contribute to increased rice production given the use of buffalo by farmers as draft power in Lao PDR. Traders, he said, also stand to gain from this Project since they need increased supply of healthy animals to meet local demand for meat as well as for export to the high-end markets of Viet Nam and China.

The Project is being funded by the Australian Government through the Stop Transboundary Animal Diseases and Zoonoses (STANDZ) Initiative implemented by the OIE Sub-Regional Representation for South-East Asia. Mr. Royce Escolar, DFAT Senior Programme Manager, said that through STANDZ, Australia will provide more intensive support to the Government of Lao PDR to assist in the effective implementation of its National FMD Plan. “This project directly contributes to Lao PDR’s goal of becoming a major exporter of livestock and livestock products in the region. Creating an FMD control zone in Northern Laos will also benefit the rural livelihoods and trade prospects of its neighbouring provinces and countries in the Upper Mekong region,” Mr. Escolar said. Since 1997, Australia has supported regional FMD control and eradication in recognition of its importance for Lao PDR and for other countries in South East Asia under the South-East Asia and China FMD (SEACFMD) Campaign.

'The SEACFMD is one of the most challenging and complex of global animal health programs. It was set up years ago in recognition of the fact that FMD is one of the most infectious diseases known to man with profound adverse impacts on animal production and developmental opportunities including trade,” said Dr. Gardner Murray, President, OIE Sub-Commission for Foot and Mouth Disease in South-East Asia and China. SEACFMD now includes all ASEAN countries and China with support funding coming from Australia and others such as New Zealand, the European Union, Japan and the Republic of Korea. “The Northern Lao PDR Project, an activity under the SEACFMD, will be closely watched by OIE, the Australian Government, SEACFMD members and others throughout the world to see what they can learn from what is a very ambitious project. I am confident of success,” Dr. Murray added.

This Project, according to the Vice-Minister, is not the first but the latest of a long history of cooperation between Lao PDR, OIE and the Australian Government. “Since Lao PDR joined other countries in establishing the SEACFMD Campaign in 1997, we have been working together towards a FMD-free region. Realising this vision is more urgent now when socio-economic developments in the region are driving increased trade between our neighbors and across the borders, facilitated by new road networks that easily link us to one another.”