USG Avian Influenza Program in Uganda

Avian Influenza East Africa ConferenceMarch 3-5 2008

By Rachel Cintron,USAID/Uganda

Partners in Uganda• FAO • ILRI• The AFFORD Project• STOP AI• GOU Ministries of Agriculture and Health• National Task Force• CDC• MUWRP• DOD - CJTF-HOA

Uganda H5N1 Situation

• No reported animal infections• No reported human infections• Neighbor – Southern Sudan, with

confirmed poultry cases in 2006.• Need for good animal and human

surveillance• Need for epidemic preparedness• Need for public awareness

USAID Funding

• FY06 - $650,000• FY07 - $1,220,000• FY08 - ??

• Relative to PEPFAR and PMI – this is chicken feed, but can have a stronger and more focused impact with good collaboration

Making AI Relevant• Funding is “stovepiped” but

there are many crossover activities with other areas of health

• Need to make AI work supportive of and collaborative with other activities for comprehensive and sustainable development of surveillance and response capability in Uganda

Opportunities for Collaboration

• HMIS – better case recognition and reporting

• Surveillance and investigation• Laboratory capacity – BSL3 with capability

to handle more than one epidemic at a time• Stockpiling of PPE and other equipment• Use of other resources – facilities, vehicles• Communication and Behavior Change• “Supportive Supervision” of Health Workers

Opportunities for Collaboration 2

• HMIS – PMI program and Health System Strengthening are already funding but needs more

• Surveillance and Investigation – WHO implements ESR for PMI – Uganda also has Ebola, Meningitis, Yellow Fever, etc. CDC also does this – but need more

• Laboratory Capacity – PEPFAR, PMI, CDC, MUWRP all have funds and prioritization of lab capacity – but need more

Opportunities for Collaboration 3

• Stockpiling – PPE – e.g. some of this was used for Ebola this year

• Resources – For case investigation, or outbreaks, shared resources such as vehicles, laboratories, human resources, facilities

• Communication and Behavior Change – Harmonizing messages

• Supportive Supervision of Health Workers – Build on what is already happening

Example of Collaboration

• CJTF-HOA was doing a VETCAP to vaccinate poultry against Newcastle disease in Gulu District. This was an opportunity to interact with many poultry farmers – so with small $ support from USAID, they included AI training and awareness in their work.

• That’s killing two birds with one stone!

Where in your work?

• What are the possible links to the ongoing work of your organization?

*Achoo!*Are you prepared?