Efforts to Combat the Avian Flu

As the need has arisen, JSI has become involved in multiple efforts to prevent and control avian flu (AI) outbreaks. JSI has a comprehensive understanding of the complex issues facing public health departments, business, and the public. Concerns regarding outbreaks of pandemic flu require enhanced preparedness efforts. JSI has worked for several national and state public health departments and federal agencies to improve their programs to address avian influenza outbreaks, conduct exercises to test their emergency planning process, inform target groups, and prepare for pandemic events.

JSI is working with public health and safety officials throughout the state of New Hampshire to develop emergency preparedness plans that address pandemic influenza and other public health threats. Under the Regional Pandemic Influenza Planning project, JSI has worked with officials at local and regional levels to plan and convene meetings of public health practitioners, emergency management officials, community service organizations, and businesses to develop all Public Health Hazards Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans. These plans detail activities which communities may be required to carry out in a public health emergency, including isolation and quarantine, crisis and emergency risk communications, and mass prophylaxis of the population through points of dispensing. JSI also worked with the NH Bureau of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the NH Department of Health and Human Services under the Statewide Pandemic Influenza Planning Technical Assistance project, to develop a regional pandemic influenza plan template and a household preparedness brochure that was signed by the governor of New Hampshire and distributed statewide.

In Romania, JSI’s avian influenza activities began with the first outbreaks in October, 2005. With support from USAID, JSI facilitated a working group that included the Government of Romania (GoR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The group focused on communicating messages to rural and other high-risk areas, and JSI produced hundreds of thousands of educational flyers, stickers, and posters, which the Ministry of Health then printed and distributed throughout the nation. JSI also helped to develop a curriculum to train local authorities in prevention and control methods in affected Romanian villages.

In May, 2006, JSI received further USAID funding to provide technical assistance to the GoR to prepare for a possible human pandemic of avian influenza. Toward this end, JSI is working in partnership with GoR institutions, Romanian NGOs, and international agencies and donors on the following activities:

Developing a draft national plan to coordinate multi-sectoral emergency response in case of an AI epidemic; facilitating consensus-building among all stakeholders, and organizing a practice implementation of the national plan.
Developing and delivering educational messages for families and small farms in rural areas; launching a public awareness campaign to prevent the spread of AI.
Developing and launching an educational campaign, including a puppet caravan, to teach children how to prevent the spread of AI and other diseases.
Training key health personnel at the district level to improve epidemiological surveillance capacity and ensure a rapid response at the local level. Personnel to be trained include specialists in public health, epidemiology, microbiology/laboratory medicine, and veterinary medicine.
Applying universal precaution procedures to control infections in medical establishments, and providing selected establishments with protective equipment.
Devising and providing pandemic preparedness training for hospital staff and family doctors.

In Indonesia, the country with the second-highest (after Vietnam) number of avian flu-related deaths, JSI—through the USAID-funded Health Services Program—is using the WHO’s Healthy Marketplace initiative to help communities in Aceh Province avoid the spread of the disease. The Healthy Marketplace initiative works to clean up community markets where chickens and other foods are sold by bringing vendors, business leaders, local government officials, and consumers together to educate them on issues such as personal hygiene, sanitation, and food handling. The committees develop a vision and mission for their marketplace, which informs health and safety standards that are then implemented, creating a cleaner market and a healthier community.

In Ghana, JSI's DELIVER project conducted an assessment to determine the government's preparedness to manage healthcare in case of avian flu and other health emergencies. Ghana has since developed a plan on how to respond to a potential outbreak/epidemic, and JSI is poised to further assist the GoG to prepare a master plan for logistical support and cost estimation.