Stamping Out Pandemic and Avian Influenza (STOP AI) Project

The communication component of this initiative draws largely on interpersonal exchanges. Specifically, one of STOP AI's priorities is to track and train a global network of local and regional experts in animal and human health. In September 2007, the first pilot course was held in an effort to: build the number of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) experts that can be deployed worldwide, strengthen professionals' skills and knowledge, promote delivery of consistent technical messages in accordance with current international protocols and guidelines, and ensure that experts work effectively with USAID and host country governments. Examples of topics addressed during the workshops include: national preparation and response plans, international standards, public health and occupational safety, sample collection and transport, geographic information systems (GIS) and outbreak mapping, biosecurity, depopulation, disposal and decontamination, and recovery operations. Following the pilot series (which concluded in November 2007), the courses will be modified and conducted worldwide.

Partnership is a key strategy shaping this training, as well as other STOP AI activities. Working with United States government agencies, national governments, international and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and a roster of veterinarians and other health experts, the project offers a wide range of technical assistance and training services to detect, respond to, and contain outbreaks. Based on such collaborations, STOP AI assists governments in designing, adapting, and implementing early warning surveillance systems - and evaluating them to determine if they are complete and can be carried out effectively. It also helps make these plans operational by assessing their guidelines and procedures (G&Ps) based on best practices from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and adapting them to the conditions and needs of each country. To ensure that a country is ready for and can respond well to an outbreak, the project helps officials test their plans and G&Ps through a series of simulation exercises, ranging from tabletop to full-scale, on-the-ground operational tests of communications, logistics, and other response systems.

STOP AI offers a variety of services - mostly centring around face-to-face communication - to help countries in the aftermath of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak, such as providing advice on poultry vaccination options and assisting national veterinary services to improve veterinary education, service delivery, and the transparency of reporting and information sharing.

Health, Natural Resource Management.

During the first 14 months of this initiative, organisers worked in 27 countries around the world.