AUSTRALIAN AID AGENCY (AusAid) AUSTRALIAN LEADERSHIP AWARDS FELLOWSHIPS (ALAF) PROGRAM

22nd – 26th June, 2009, The University of Sydney, Camden

Professor Michael Ward and Dr Jenny-Ann Toribio coordinated fourteen veterinarians from Indonesia who are learning how to track and stop the spread of animal borne diseases in a three-week training program hosted by the University of Sydney.

The program is part of the Australian Aid Agency (AusAid) Australian Leadership Awards Fellowships (ALAF) program and aims to equip Indonesian veterinary epidemiologists with important skills to improve surveillance, detection and monitoring of animal borne diseases.

Animal borne diseases that cause a high rate of death when humans are infected, such as bird flu and rabies, are an immediate problem in Indonesia. They are a real concern to animal owners posing a threat not only to their health but also to their livelihood, particularly for subsistence farmers. This Fellowship program aims to strengthen the capacity of government, non-government (NGO) and research institutions across Indonesia, including the national Disease Investigation Centre (DIC) network, by building capability and expertise in disease detection, risk assessment and surveillance.
The Fellows include key senior staff and younger veterinarians from a diverse range of geographical regions in Indonesia who are all members of the newly established Indonesian Veterinary Epidemiology Association (IVEA).

While in Australia, they learnt about the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Camden before heading to Canberra to visit the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry. They then travelled to the Gold Coast for the Science Week conference of the Epidemiology Chapter of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists and finally to Orange to be hosted by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and trained in risk management in animal health.