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January 27, 2010 – Veterinarians without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières – Canada (VWB/VSF) has launched a major three-year initiative to build ecohealth capacity in six Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

VWB/VSF announced the new initiative on January 19, 2010, as part of a meeting of the Asian Partnership for Emerging Infectious Disease Research (APEIR) in Kunming, China. The launch was observed with a day-long workshop, opened by the chair of the APEIR Steering Committee, Dr. Amin Soebandrio.

Funded primarily by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and building on baseline funding provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the project will build knowledge and skills in ecohealth – an emerging field of study and practice that uses systemic and participatory approaches to understanding and promoting health and wellbeing in the context of complex social-ecological interactions. The project aims to help local ecohealth practitioners identify and reduce factors that contribute to emerging infectious diseases in the region.

A large part of this project will focus on workshops and training events that will bring together VWB/VSF and its many Southeast Asian partners. Together these partners will help drive the project through network development and through the creation of new ecohealth training workshops based on examples from the region. This work will also complement past VWB/VSF workshops and regional community-based agriculture and veterinary projects in which VWB/VSF is a main partner.

"I am very happy to have been invited to this workshop because it has opened my eyes. Using ecohealth approaches allows us to balance different types of knowledge in making decisions. Unless someone takes that role, we cannot see the forest for the trees," said Dr. Iwan Wilyanto, an animal health consultant from Indonesia who was an active participant at the launch.

This project is led by VWB/VSF board member Dr. David Hall of the University of Calgary and managed by VWB/VSF’s Asia Regional Programme Manager Sonia Fèvre. Joining Dr. Hall and Ms. Fèvre at the launch in Kunming were key team members Drs. David Waltner-Toews (VWB/VSF President), Jeff Davidson, and Karen Morrison. Another important contributor, Dr. Bruce Hunter, was unable to attend the launch. Other attendees included investigators from a broad range of government, university, international, and private organizations that are active in the region. This initiative puts VWB/VSF at the forefront of integrated systems approaches to dealing with emerging infectious diseases in Southeast Asia.

APEIR meeting, Kunming, China. January 20, 2010.