REMESA

MEDITERRANEAN ANIMAL HEALTH NETWORK

http://www.fao-ectad-crsa-an.org/index.jsp?pRubriqueId=3978

During the II Regional Coordination Meeting for Animal Health in North Africa and Egypt held from 23 to 25 April 2008 in Ávila (Spain), organized by FAO / ECTAD Regional Animal Health Center for North Africa (RAHC-NA) in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and subfunded by the Spanish Cooperation, was launched the initiative for the creation of a Mediterranean Animal Health Network (REMESA) associating countries in North Africa and Southern Europe. The objectives and organizational structure of the REMESA network were as well validated at the meetings in Algiers (February 09) and Paris (May 09), also organized by FAO / ECTAD RAHC-NA and the Spanish Cooperation as main financial donors.

REMESA is in line within the overall context of Barcelona Process initiatives for a Mediterranean partnership, and more recently, the project for creation of Union for the Mediterranean launched in Paris on 13 July 2009. This initiative is also linked to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) developed in 2004 in order to enhance prosperity, stability and security. The ENP, which goes beyond existing relationships to offer a political relationship and economic integration, is applied to immediate EU neighbours. In addition, the countries of North Africa (except Egypt) are grouped under the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), whose main objective is to prepare the right conditions for a gradual economic integration at the scale of the Maghreb region.

The concept of regional animal health network is based on grouping several countries; was focused on harmonization of surveillance and control methods and strengthening the national devices without replacing them in their functions. The priority diseases that appear in Northern Africa countries are: rabies, peste des petits ruminants (PPR), brucellosis, bluetongue (BT), sheep pox, tuberculosis, foot and mouth disease, avian influenza (AI), leishmaniasis, Rift Valley fever and equine fever. In Southern European countries, animal health concerns are the spread risk of these diseases from the South (FMD, PPR, rabies, etc...), and surveillance and control issues like (vector-borne diseases such as BT or West Nile fever).

The Mediterranean Animal Health Network is based on the veterinary services of each country that adhered to its objectives and should be considered as a structure in which regional programs and projects may find their anchorage. This regional context does not replace the essential baseline work that must be done in each country which will be always sovereign on its decisions in regards to epidemiological surveillance, diseases control or animal health information exchanges outside of its borders. The network coordination for the countries on both shores of the western Mediterranean, already advanced by the FAO / ECTAD RAHC-NA since May 2007 with funds from the Spanish Cooperation, is a strong support for the REMESA formalisation and continuity.

In the framework of FAO/ECTAD RAHC-AN and the Mediterranean Animal Health Network, three other sub-networks have been established as part of the same initiative to harmonize, energize and facilitate the operation and activities of REMESA: the Animal Health Laboratories Network (RELABSA), the Veterinary Epidemiosurveillance Network (REPIVET) and the Animal Health Commission Network (RECOMSA).