Workshop Sept 2007

National Animal Health Strategy
Multi-partner Workshop

September 18-19, 2007

September 2007 Workshop Summary Report

< Part 4: Suggestions : Next Steps

Table of Contents

Annex 2: Workshop Participant List >

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Appendix 1 – Key Focus Areas – Consolidation Exercise

• Animal Health and Welfare Promotion
• Surveillance
• Governance
• Infrastructure
• Framework
• Harmonization of international/national local regulations/policies
• Preparedness
• Education and Communication
• Partnerships
• Research
• Public Health
• Ecosystem Health

Animal Health and Welfare Promotion

Programs, policies and resources to build resilient and productive animal populations, ensuring the NAHS considers health and not just disease.

• Focus on animal health promotion, in addition to disease prevention/mitigation
• Promote animal health and welfare
• Animal welfare and health encompasses those societal values, whether enshrined in law or not, that attribute certain rights to animals for protection from suffering and ill-health.

Surveillance

A new surveillance system that is comprised of multiple methods, across species and jurisdictions, that includes determinants of health, all of which satisfy the objectives of the NAHS.
Encompassing, reporting, analysis, dissemination, and action
Determinants: across jurisdictions/across species, standards, systemic, multi methods

• Protect, monitor and maintain the integrity of our national animal resources
• Surveillance
  • Establish internationally compatible surveillance guidelines to address animal health and zoonotic issues (including wildlife)
  • National integrated, science-based surveillance network system, in selected vertebrates,  for the following:
    1. detection of specific infectious disease and other priority disease causing agents (the “known”)
    2. identification of unhealthy animals and diagnosis of causality (“the unknown”)
• Surveillance that includes
  • Rapid, reliable laboratory infrastructure
  • National information management system
  • Standardized “need-to-know” and public reporting system
  • Science-based sampling and species selection (indicator) design
  • Special investigative (scientific/legal) capacity
• Tracking Canada’s animal health status (surveillance, diagnostic methods and infrastructure)

Governance

An effective means to make decisions, coordinate activities and resolve disputes.

• Representative governance to ensure proper communication and decision-making that builds commitment and supports implementation at all levels.
• Establish a universally accepted governance mechanism for the NAHS that is open and inclusive.
• The governance mechanism should include decision-making, roles and responsibilities, accountabilities and dispute resolution.
• Efficient decision-making processes/frameworks that are integrated among existing stakeholders, scientifically-based and transparent.
• Principle for the NAHS – The Strategy needs to be based on a principle of adaptive, continuous improvement
• Gaps, needs, roles and responsibilities
• Identification of underlying drivers for the NAHS, because the scope appears unmanageable as a result of under-developed priorities and risks the reduction of engagement of partners.
• Risk management
  • The NAHS needs to ensure that the appropriate inputs are used in decisions related to risk, including scientific knowledge and societal concerns. There also needs to be an establishment of confidence in the risk management process.
• To clearly define roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder in the implementation of the Strategy.
• Adjustment/phase-in
  • Policies should respect or incorporate existing regulations and provide for sufficient phase-in time to minimize negative impacts.
• The Priority
  • Any idea (initiative) starts with a thought/dream. Why are we doing this?
  • Are we (humans) here for the benefit of the animals, OR
  • Are the animals here for the benefit of us?
• Statement of principles and values.
• Defining roles, responsibilities, governance, (process), and enforcement
• Coordination
  • The NAHS should allow for the coordination and integration of
    1. coherent policy definition
    2. risk assessment
    3. synchronized process at different levels of government (plus private) with respect to human and material resources; align with existing surveillance systems
    4. decision-making processes
    5. communication among all stakeholders.

Infrastructure

Identify and establish the infrastructure and funding required for implementing and supporting a sustainable and valid disease and health management system (support the NAHS).

• Access and availability to vet services, food and shelter.
  • Because Canada is a large country with a non-uniformly distributed human population, and to address threats and impacts on animal health and welfare, we need to improve nation-wide access and availability to veterinary services, food and shelter.
• Establish required infrastructure for diagnosis of domestic and foreign animal disease in a cost-effective fashion. This will include both Biocontainment Security Level 2 and Biocontainment Security Level 3 laboratories with animal-holding capacity.
• Establish programs for the training of highly qualified personnel in public and private sectors in a multidisciplinary fashion.
• Funding infrastructure and human resources
  • The NAHS should clearly articulate funding polices with respect to:
    1. infrastructure development
    2. human resources
    3. programs defined under the NAHS
    4. role of all stakeholders
• Disease management – develop and implement a sustainable, integrated and scientifically valid disease management system that incorporates prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.

Framework

Define the extent of the NAHS, and ensure that there is an explicit mechanism to evaluate choices, make decisions and allocate resources.

• NAHS framework for planning and implementation (selecting what is in, what is out)
• Animal health management strategies need to be sensitive to the social, ecological and economic impacts.
• The scope includes the following:
  1. All animal health issues having an important impact on public health, economic health and ecological health. This definition limits the scope of this important issue (e.g. issues related to individual health are excluded).
  2. The Strategy will need to identify (define) all target sectors. In this way, all identified groups will be part of the Strategy.

Harmonization of international/national local regulations/policies

• National and international markets and trade
  • The NAHS must respond to the economic realities involved in the national and international aspects of markets and trade, and should establish a framework to facilitate harmonization of regulations and trade policy with the OIE.
• Harmonization with the U.S. and the OIE
  • Lack of harmonization with the U.S. and the OIE policy creates unnecessary trade barriers.
  • The NAHS should establish a framework to facilitate harmonization of regulations and trade policy.
• NAHS in an international context (other regulations, expectations, and programs)
• Clarify Canada’s role in a global context.
• International standards
  • Lead in the development and implementation of international standards
  • Develop domestic standards that are internationally compliant.
• Economic –
  • Maximizes incentives to report disease by the development of an equitable, financial support system
  • Consider economic impacts in decision making and priority setting
• Economic viability and international competitiveness at the domestic and international level.
• Harmonization
  • Work toward harmonization, and address gaps related to animal health legislation, regulation and supportive policies between levels of government and key trading partners.

Preparedness

Resources for anticipation, planning, simulation/practice, and detection of animal health issues relevant to the priorities of the NAHS

• Emergency disaster preparedness
  • risk identification
  • risk management
  • response
• National preparedness and response to animal health events (emergency identification, disaster, production diseases, biosecurity)
• Emergency preparedness response & recovery (compensation)
  • Development and implementation of a timely Plan (includes both a communication strategy and economic recovery-compensation) in response to animal health emergencies and related issues.
• Risk – reducing the likelihood of animal disease outbreaks (including zoonotics) through continuous adaptation, adoption and improvement of policy and practices by governments, industry and communities.
• Wildlife health/ zoonoses – wildlife as reservoirs of disease.
• Threats and impacts
  • The NAHS should identify, measure, respond to, or prevent threats and impacts that involved animal health including emergencies, disasters, climate change, zoonoses, emerging or re-emerging diseases etc.

Education and Communication

An education system that anticipates and adapts to address the needs of veterinary infrastructure and animal owners to minimize the impact of animal diseases
Transparency throughout the development and implementation of the NAHS, with or between stakeholders, public, private, media and regions. It includes the education of the public.

• Cross-sectoral knowledge and information exchange
• Educate the grassroots level (i.e. those affected, such as producers)
• Consistent, accurate messages to media
• Improving information-sharing systems
• Public education and communication on Canada’s animal health system
• Prevention and education
  • These 2 issues are inter‑related.  They have to be integrated by the different stakeholders to ensure the uniformity of the messages.
  • Thus, contradictory messages will be avoided and the messages agreed to by the parties will be coherent and more efficient.

Partnerships

Reach all stakeholders in order to coordinate and integrate efforts

• Aboriginal consultation – to ensure that all Aboriginal peoples are adequately consulted, informed and involved in animal health issues and action plans.
• Public health and community health
  • The NAHS needs to address linkages between animal health, public health and community health.
• For the NAHS to be implemented, the following is needed:
  1. develop a partnership among and between:
     • Provinces, territories, etc
     • Non-governmental organizations
     • Financial organizations
     • Integration of existing programs
  2. The Strategy has to be implemented on a very large land area
     • themes: partnership
       • Policy implementation
     • components:
       • Identify the partners at every level
       • Implement a communication mechanism
       • Ensure division of the land is according to partners
     • why?
       • The success of the Strategy rests on the partnership and on the level of comprehension of the Program by partners
       • The use of existing resources in the current mandate will ensure the implementation of the policy on the whole land area.

Research

Decision making, prioritization and products to support animal health

• Inputs to animal health: availability, restrictions, response usage, withdrawal times
• Medications availability, restrictions and responsible usage.
• Research
  • Identify ongoing research and gaps in research
  • Prioritize research needs
  • Build upon existing funding and provide strategic focus for new research dollars
• Science and Research
  • Planning and decisions should be informed by timely research (on population, regional and individual health factors)
• To ensure a systemized approach in the prioritizations of animal health research and the decision making and policy therein.
• Impact of advances in Science including:
  • Genetically modified animals
  • Cloning
  • Engineered tissue
  • Xenoplanations
• Research theme – ongoing involvement in public research on animal health and welfare.
  • Components:
    • determine the priority needs, and allocate the required funds and resources to meet those needs.
    • increase partnerships on the identified needs
  • Why?
    • better meet the targeted needs that are not or ill covered by the private sector
    • scientifically establish the elements that define pain, distress and comfort concepts, etc

Public Health

• Value of animal in society (public health, others)
• Public health – protect people from animal-related health risks.
• Address the linkages between animal health and public health and/or community health.

Ecosystem Health

• Animal output, animal products (limited), and disposal of dead stock
• Habitat conservation (this is crucial to assure animal health and welfare because, without an adequate habitat, neither health nor welfare can be assured.)
  • Population control
  • Preserving unique animal models
  • Monitoring indicators of ecological health
  • Biodiversity protection