Indonesia joins congress to manage pandemic disease threats

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SASKATOON — Indonesia participated in the fifth International One Health Congress in Saskatoon, Canada on June 22 to 25. Our country shares its experiences in preventing and controlling Emerging Infectious Diseases and reducing the threat of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) using the ‘One Health’ approach.

There were two posters titled "Building cross-sectoral One Health emerging infectious disease and zoonoses surveillance and response capacity in Indonesia: so much more than a training exercise" and “Antibiotics Use on Small and Medium Scale Broiler Farms in West Java, East Java and South Sulawesi Provinces, Indonesia” in presentation. Indonesia shared the experiences at the conference.

The conference is an annual event that brings together practitioners, academics and governments from around the world to discuss the steps needed to address the threats of pandemic diseases. In addition, the impact on human health, animals and the environment.

"Why use the One Health approach? Because a pandemic threat cannot be overcome by one sector alone, as it involves all aspects of human health, animal health and the environment" said veterinary officer of the Directorate of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Pebi Purwo Suseno on the sidelines of his poster presentation.

Indonesia is considered one of the hotspots for Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) in Asia, which may be transmitted from animals to humans (zoonoses) such as avian influenza. Over the past 11 years, 167 people have died from bird flu in Indonesia and the economic losses for the country have been large.

In a press release made available to Republika.co.id by FAO Representation in Indonesia, Pebi said that efforts to prevent and control EID and zoonoses using the 'One Health' approach have been conducted by the Indonesian government over the past twelve years, including through the Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT2) program together with the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) Indonesia. The programme is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Compared to other countries, Indonesia is one step ahead. We have implemented ‘One Health’ in preventing and controlling EID and zoonoses in four pilot project areas: Bengkalis (Riau), Ketapang (West Kalimantan), Boyolali (Central Java) and Minahasa (North Sulawesi). The project’s One Health experiences were shared in posters featured in the meeting," Pebi explained.

A second poster presented the results of a survey on antibiotic usage patterns on broiler chicken farms in three main poultry production areas in Indonesia: West Java, East Java and South Sulawesi. According to animal health official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ni Made Ria Isriyanthi, this antimicrobial usage (AMU) survey contributes valuable baseline information to the global action plan to control AMR, especially in the livestock sector.

"AMU surveys were conducted to obtain evidence-based information from the field, which is expected to inform government policy and regulations. The ultimate goal is to protect public health and reduce the impact of AMR," Ni Made said.

In the past two years, AMR has been recognised as a critical global public health issue. If not managed effectively, it is estimated that by 2050, annual deaths from infections caused by resistant bacteria could reach 10 million.

FAO ECTAD Indonesia Chief Technical Advisor Luuk Schoonman said FAO provided its full support to the Government of Indonesia, in this case the Ministry of Agriculture, to participate in the One Health congress. According to him, the congress outcomes could act as a reference for the Government in preventing and controlling pandemic threats.

"Indonesia can learn from One Health practitioners and experts from around the world. There will be many research results and findings presented, which could be of relevance and implemented in Indonesia," Luuk said.

This year's ‘One Health’ keynote speaker is Australian Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty who won the prize for his immunology work.