Rwanda to host international animal health conference

The last high profile animal meeting Rwanda hosted drew together African ministers responsible for animals in November 2005 Rwanda is to host the 19th ‘Conference of World Organisation Animal Health (OIE) Regional Commission for Africa. The OIE is an organisation that helps its member countries to prevent, control and eradicate animal diseases. It also helps in the fight against poverty. The decision for Rwanda’s hosting of the OIE conference was unanimously accepted in the recently ended 18th conference held N’Djamena, Chad last month. The next conference is slated for 2011. Dr Théogene Rutagwenda, the Director General of Rwanda Animal Resources Development Authority (Rarda) filed the proposal on Rwanda’s behalf. “Hosting the conference will help the country’s animal development stakeholders share experiences, especially in areas related to disease control,” Rutagwenda he explained. He added that the hosting of the conference will also boost the tourism, collecting revenue by offering hospitality services. The issues resolved for discussion in the Kigali conference include; the economic implication of foot and month disease, and livestock census as an essential tool for planning and implementing health and disease control programmes. Rutagwenda however revealed that the hosting will be approved during the next OIE general assembly scheduled for May this year. During the 18th conference African member countries were urged to implement the early detection and rapid response mechanism, for the prevention and control of animal diseases. The meeting in N’Djamena hailed Rwanda for its efforts on controlling brucellosis on imported animals where tests are carried out prior to importation. The last high animal profile meeting Rwanda last hosted drew together African ministers responsible for animals in November 2005. It was during this meeting that a decision to ban chicken importation in fear of the spread of bird flu was passed. This was referred to as the ‘Kigali Declaration’. OIE consists of 172 members worldwide. About 30 percent of the members are African countries. Last year, OIE audited veterinary services in Rwanda to ascertain if they met international standards. The experts inspected private and government owned laboratories for two weeks. Inspection, which was the first in the country was also be carried out at border posts to evaluate across borders animal movement, slaughtering houses and dairy depots. Ends

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Rwanda to host international animal health conference