The 3rd National Intersectoral Coordination on Zoonoses Meeting in Mongolia
The 3rd National intersectoral coordination on zoonosis meeting was carried out in Bugan province, Mongolia, 14-17 August. About 70 participants from human and animal sectors, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and National Professional Inspection Agency at all three levels attended the meeting. The theme of this year’s meeting is Rabies Prevention and Elimination in Mongolia.
Dr Tsolmon, Vice-minister of Health, chairperson of the National Intersectoral Coordination Mechanism welcomed participants to the meeting. She acknowledged the consultative process and collective expertise that are contributing to establishment and success of the national intersectoral coordination on prevention and control zoonoses in Mongolia. She also acknowledged WHO’s support in the functioning coordination mechanism. She encouraged participants to identify gaps and further improvement of the coordination.
The meeting comprised of presentations and panel discussions. The meeting concluded:
- there is no formal strategy on rabies prevention and elimination and no policy on dog management in Mongolia
- there is no policy on rabies vaccination among high risk groups.
- Mongolia is still using nerve tissue derived vaccine (NTV) although many other countries in Asia have already phased NTV out,
The meeting recommended;
- to develop national startegy on rabies control and elemination
- to considering using modern rabies vaccines (purified cell-culture) for post exposure prevention, that complies with WHO criteria for potency and
innocuity and have been assessed satisfactorily in humans.
- to develop policy on dog management