The Seventh Steering Committee for the Middle East nominated GF-TADs of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) and the World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Director-General of the General Department of Livestock Services at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture Ibrahim bin Ahmed Qassem to chair the committee during The next session (2020 AD – 2024 AD) and supervises the implementation of its tasks.
The tasks of the Seventh Steering Committee for the Middle East 2020-2024 AD are to strengthen the control and eradication of some transboundary diseases in the region, implement the strategy of directing the activities of the General Secretariat, specialized regional organizations and regional support units, and strengthen the synergies between the OIE activities related to transboundary animal diseases and working groups. GF-TADs and disease priority secretariats, enhancing the spirit of cooperation between the Member States and donors to coordinate the activities of the Secretariat and provide advice whenever possible and identify performance indicators with the Secretariat for an effective field, laboratory, and epidemiological evaluation of disease events and control efforts, and the adoption of recommendations and action plans.
Tasks are also represented in the exchange of experiences and the formation of permanent expert groups (Rift Valley fever – Brucellosis – Rabies) or regional consultations for groups (FMD – PPR) as necessary on priority cross-border diseases for the region, and the development and approval of a regional 5-year strategy To be completed with a two-year operational procedure, based on the GF-TADs and to ensure that transboundary diseases are prioritized in accordance with recommendations approved by the Global Service Center.
The Kingdom participated as one of the member states in the meeting of the seventh steering committee of the GF-TADs group for the Middle East, which was held recently, and this meeting touched on the importance of combating transboundary animal diseases and preparing a regional action plan for the Middle East for the coming period with the participation of member states.
It is noteworthy that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pays great attention to the work of combating transboundary diseases by allocating the initiative to investigate and control livestock diseases, one of the national transformation initiatives, which aims to control diseases and protect livestock by preventing or limiting their spread.
