FAO and WOAH launch next phase of PPR eradication programme

An event was held on 4th November at the Rome headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to mark the publication of a book celebrating the eradication of rinderpest and to launch the next phase of the peste des petits ruminants (PPR) Global Eradication Programme.

Co-authored by FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the book (‘Rinderpest and its eradication’) reviews the scientific expertise and activities during decades of eradication efforts. It also holds important lessons for the fight against PPR, which the UN has vowed to eradicate by 2030.

PPR was made a priority for global eradication by FAO and WOAH in 2015. The overall approach to this goal is set out in the Global Strategy for the Control and Eradication of PPR and is planned through three phases.

The first five-year phase of the programme aimed at engaging every country (including infected countries and those without official recognition of PPR-freedom) in the PPR pathway to eradication. To date, 59 countries and one zone of a country are officially recognised as PPR free. By 2022, 68 of the 76 target countries had developed PPR National Strategic Plans (NSPs) to assess, control and eventually eradicate PPR.

The PPR Blueprint covers the next phases of the programme, including the second phase (2022 to 2026) and third phase (2027-2030). The second phase aims to consolidate and build on the achievements of the first phase, taking into account the lessons learned and emerging priorities and best practices in the global development arena.

Document: FAO, WOAH, 2022. Peste des Petits Ruminants Global Eradication Programme II & III: Overview of the plan of action [download at: https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc2759en]

[SOURCE: FAO]