Organisation of veterinary public health in the south Asia region.

In the South Asia region vast human populations are exposed daily and with considerable intensity to close contact with vast animal populations and their excreta. There is no veterinary public health unit in the World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) in New Delhi (India), the Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) in Manila (Philippines) or the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) in Alexandria (Egypt). However, these offices do support a number of activities on zoonoses and food-borne diseases in WHO member countries of the region. Maintenance of the health of farmers and of their families (often termed "rural health") has assumed increasing importance in most member countries of the region. In most of the countries, there is no actual veterinary public health unit functioning as a national body common to the ministries of health and agriculture. Among the commonest zoonotic diseases prevalent in member countries are rabies, brucellosis, Japanese encephalitis, echinococcosis, tuberculosis, visceral leishmaniasis, taeniasis, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis and leptospirosis. A national plan is necessary for each country to give priority to controlling these diseases, based on health systems research or primary health care, with intersectoral and regional cooperation through the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) under Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC). There should be a strong unit for veterinary public health in all WHO regional offices to coordinate zoonotic disease surveillance, training and control programmes in countries of the region.