To boost public health security and strengthen disease surveillance, experts from the health, animal, and food sectors have come together in Tsirang for a training, starting today. The programme is aimed at building their skills and preparing the country better for future health threats. It is an initiative of the health ministry, developed under the ‘One Health Approach’, which recognises the close link between human, animal, and environmental health.
The training titled ‘Basic-Joint Field Epidemiology Training Programme’ or B-J-FETP aims to expand knowledge and skills of field epidemiologists who work as frontliners during the times of disease outbreaks and health emergencies. Over the course of next few days, moderators from relevant agencies will train over 40 field epidemiologists. The participants will learn the basics of epidemiology, explore existing health surveillance systems, disease outbreak investigations, the practice of scientific communication through interactive lectures and exercises.
The health ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, and the Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan launched the training programme last year.
Ugyen Tshering, the deputy chief programme officer of the Department of Public Health said, “The very purpose of having this joint FETP among these three sectors is because we value the very approach of One Health Approach. It is through such One Health Approach we will able to have early detection of diseases and thereby we can give the very efficient response while working together as one health sector.”
Once trained, the field epidemiologists return to their respective agencies better equipped to handle disease outbreak-related task in the future.
Ugyen Tshering said, “We expect our participants at least to know the different surveillance systems in our human health, animal health, and the food sector. Apart from the surveillance system, we also want to have our participants able to interpret surveillance data. Along with that we also want them to build the capacities in conducting disease outbreak investigations.”
For the first time, the participants also observed the World Field Epidemiology Day, today. Though the day is globally marked on 7th of September, the participants celebrated it today to make the event more inclusive. It is aimed at recognising the crucial role of field epidemiologists who are often called “disease detectives” for protecting people from public health threats.
He added that “For Bhutan, this area of filed epidemiology has not been widely recognised until the recent pandemic that we had a few years ago. Since the pandemic, we have seen lot of attention being given to the building the capacity of filed epidemiology in the country.”
The health ministry hopes that such trainings will significantly strengthen Bhutan’s preparedness in the event of another major disease outbreak, such as a future pandemic.
Pema Tshewang
Edited by Kipchu
