MEDIA INVITATION
The 5th APEIR Regional Meeting
Date: 13-15 January 2010
Media briefings and interviews: Friday 15 January, 1700 hrs
Dianchi Garden Hotel & Spa, No. 1316, Dianchi Road, Kunming
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The Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research will hold its 5th regional meeting in Kunming, China between 13-15 January 2010.
The six-country, five-project research initiative is made up of researchers, officials and practitioners from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao-PDR Thailand and Vietnam. They will discuss the results of their three year studies and set objectives for future work.
On Friday 15 January at 1700, lead researchers from each of the research projects will present their work to the media. There will be opportunities for interviews.
Findings from these studies are crucial to the development of national preparedness strategies for emerging disease in each country as well as of a joint regional strategy.
The five projects are:
• Forming of a Regional Network for Surveillance and Monitoring of Avian Influenza Viruses in Migratory Birds
• Socio-Economic Impact of Human Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreaks and control measures on small-scale and backyard poultry producers in Asia
• Characteristics and dynamics of backyard poultry systems in 5 Asian countries in relation to reducing and managing Avian Influenza risks
• Policy Analysis for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness
• Studies on the effectiveness of Avian Influenza control measures in the Asian partnership countries
The meeting is intended to strengthen the emerging infectious disease community and practice in Asia. Participants will share and learn from partners in other regional networks and initiate new research initiatives. More information is available at the end of this invitation. A similar document is also available for download.
Background information:
APEIR work is underpinned by principles of ecohealth, which address emerging infectious diseases as a development problem, rather than a medical one. As a holistic systems-based approach that places human health and wellbeing in the context of environmental, social and economic causes and impacts, ecohealth requires multidisciplinary research teams and involves all relevant stakeholders.
More than 30 partner institutions representing a range of expertise and sectors are currently participating in APEIR research projects on: wild migratory birds, socio-economic impact, backyard chicken production, policy analysis, and control measures. The 4th APEIR regional workshop was held in November 2008 to share, update and discuss preliminary findings from the five APEIR studies.
Background and Current Status of APEIR
In 2005, the Asian Partnership on Avian Influenza Research (APAIR) was initiated by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to promote regional research collaboration on bird flu (H5N1). Subsequently in 2009, the network was renamed as the Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (APEIR) in order to examine a wider range of emerging infectious diseases, including the pandemic swine flu (H1N1) outbreak. For more information on APEIR, please visit www.apeiresearch.net.
International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
IDRC is a Canadian Crown corporation that works in close collaboration with researchers from the developing world in their search for the means to build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies. Its Regional Office for Southeast and East Asia has been supporting researchers in Asia for more than 30 years.
For Media enquiries:
Dr Dinh Xuan Tung
APEIR Coordinator
Tel: (84-4) 838-7237 (Mobile)
Email: [email protected]
Ms Pornpit Silkavute
APEIR Regional Coordinating Office
Health Systems Research Institute
Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
Tel: 662 951 1286-93 ext 124 (Office)
Email: [email protected]
Ms Vivien Chiam
Partnership and Communications Manager
International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Regional Office for Southeast and East Asia
Singapore
Tel: (65) 9760-6821 (Mobile)
Email: [email protected]
Ms Catherine Atkins
ResearchSEA Limited
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Email: [email protected]
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Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research
Background information for media
In 2006 the threat of avian influenza (H5N1) spurred a five-country collaboration to improve policy for and surveillance of infectious diseases in Asia. In 2009 a new pandemic; H1N1 swine flu, threatened to kill millions around the world. Lessons learned from the so called ‘bird flu’ were applied to the new emerging disease thanks, in part, to the collaboration, known since May 2009 as the Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (APEIR).
In January 2010 APEIR researchers from across Asia will meet to discuss the results emerging from their work on emerging diseases and set objectives for the next three years. The programme encompasses policy-relevant research that addresses determinants and consequences of emerging infectious diseases.
With its focus on broad socio-economic aspects of these diseases the Partnership is able to apply the lessons it learns to new and future emerging diseases. The collaborative approach will benefit not just the countries involved but the region as a whole.
Who is APEIR?
The research partnership is composed of researchers, officials and practitioners from Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Its vision is “to be the leading knowledge and research network in Asia for EIDs, based on Eco-health concepts by 2013.”
APEIR is funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and brings together experts from different disciplines to explore research and policy questions in animal and public health.
APEIR began as the Asian Partnership for Avian Influenza Research in response to the spread of H5N1. In its new, wider remit APEIR addresses research and policy questions at the interface between animal and human public health.
From an initial 26 institutions in 2006 APEIR now includes over 30 partner institutions including: the Public Health Agency of Canada, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Public Health and Health Systems Research Institute, Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, Ministry of Health of Indonesia and the Ministry of Health of Cambodia.
What do they do?
Research is addressing the following questions:
• What constraints do governments face in making difficult policy decisions on emerging infectious diseases considering respective national circumstances?
• How are avian influenza and measures to control it affecting poor and small farmers in the region?
• How can biosecurity on small farms be improved?
• What control measures are most efficient and effective under what circumstances?
• What role do migratory birds play in the transmission of avian influenza, and how can countries improve collaboration in wildlife health surveillance?
Findings from these studies are extremely important to the development of national preparedness strategies for emerging disease in each country as well as a regional strategy as a whole.
The five research studies so far are:
Wild bird migratory group:
Project title: Forming of regional network for surveillance and monitoring of avian influenza viruses in migratory birds
This project aims to enhance the early detection and characterization of avian influenza (AI) infection and reporting in migratory birds through a coordinated surveillance network. The team confirms the species suspected to play a role in the spread of AI, and identifies others with the potential to spread viruses between participating countries. Through a regional network they will improve understanding of the role of migrating birds in spreading the disease.
Socio-economic impact group
Project title: Socio-economic impact of human pandemic avian influenza outbreaks and control measures on small-scale and backyard poultry producers in Asia
The main objective of this study is to inform the development of viable control strategies and more equitable interventions to cope with AI, especially for particularly vulnerable households. The group’s aim is to mitigate adverse social and economic impacts of AI and AI control measures by analyzing the implications for the design and implementation of control measures and other interventions
Backyard chicken group
Project title: Characteristics and dynamics of backyard poultry systems in five Asian countries in relation to reducing and managing avian influenza risks
The objective is to describe and analyze characteristics of backyard poultry systems; the networks through which backyard poultry move; identify and promote changes in backyard poultry systems at various scales and facilitate conversation and feedback between backyard farming stakeholders and policy makers at different scales.
Policy analysis group
Project title: Policy analysis for pandemic influenza preparedness
This team studies the way that antiviral drug and poultry vaccination policies in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are determined. They have reviewed relevant research and interviewed key stakeholders to determine factors that influence the development of antiviral drug and vaccination policies. An analysis of the process of policy making will investigate differences and similarities in policy and describe influencing factors in policy formulation that may be important in future processes
Control measures group
Project title: Studies on the effectiveness of avian influenza control measures in the Asian partnership countries
The four countries jointly conducting this study evaluate factors contributing to the success in prevention and control of AI in the poultry sector. They describe and analyze recommended measures on prevention and control of avian influenza and evaluate effectiveness of control measures applied in poultry farms.
