FAO concluded strengthening the epidemiological capacity of the Government of Jordan’s veterinary services training program

Amman – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with funding from the Defense and Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)- USA and in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Royal Veterinary College - UK concluded the Field Epidemiology Training Program for Veterinarians (FETPV) which was launched on August 21st,2022.

The launching of the Field Epidemiology Training Program for Veterinarians was followed by three months mentorship training period that aimed to produce competent field veterinary epidemiologists in Jordan who can interact with animal owners, investigate, assess, analyze, and report the findings of outbreak investigations effectively and rapidly. The program has also improved veterinarians’ capacity for animal disease prevention, detection, and response.

FAO conducted a scoping mission to Jordan with the support of the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) in October 2019 to identify and provide the necessary support for strengthening veterinary services in Jordan. Furthermore, in March 2022, FAO together with the Royal Veterinary College London carried out a follow-up mission to Jordan to assess veterinary epidemiology training needs and gaps. Based on the findings of these two FAO missions and the positive feedback received from the Directorate of Veterinary Services and taking into account the recommendations of the Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) evaluation, the Joint External Evaluation (JEE), and the National Action Plan for Health Security, it was agreed to provide support for epidemiology capacity building in Jordan.

Field epidemiology skills and capacities are at the core of veterinary workforce development as they enable the early detection, prevention, control and management of animal diseases, including zoonoses. One of FAO’s core mandates is therefore to support countries in developing their epidemiology capacity. This activity is within the framework of the project "Strengthening Global Veterinary Epidemiology Capabilities and Rapid Regional Disease Surveillance", which assesses the specific needs of Jordan to develop a training program that fulfils these gaps. And an assessment will be carried out in a systematic and harmonized way to allow better data interpretation and comparisons across countries.