The Indonesia Australia Red Meat and Cattle Partnership (RMCP) visited the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FKH) of Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) and the UNAIR Teaching Veterinary Hospital (RSHP) on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Representatives from the Australian Consulate General, Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Economic Affairs were in the meeting.
Dr. Nusdianto Triakoso said that the visit of RMCP to FKH UNAIR aimed to conduct an evaluation. The evaluation was conducted after various collaborative programs. The collaboration between RMCP and Indonesian Veterinary Faculty Association (AFKHI) included a training for professional development of frontline animal health workers and strengthening veterinary student learning materials for prevention, mitigation and management of livestock disease outbreaks in Indonesian livestock sector.
Potential for advanced cooperation
UNAIR Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FKH UNAIR), an active AFKHI member, engaged in discussions with RMCP about potential future collaborations in addition to the evaluation. “We discussed and talked about what support RMCP can provide for further cooperation. Some things that need to be emphasized are training for frontline animal health workers,” said the Deputy Director of Medical Services, Education and Research of FKH UNAIR.
FKH UNAIR has conducted various trainings for frontline animal health workers in regions including Lamongan, Tuban, Bojonegoro, Ngawi, Magetan, Ponorogo, Madiun, and Jombang, as well as the eastern part of East Java, such as Bondowoso, Situbondo, Banyuwangi, Jember, Lumajang, Probolinggo City, and Probolinggo Regency.
Training for animal health workers
FKH UNAIR is not alone in carrying out this noble mission. Several universities such as Brawijaya University and Wijaya Kusuma University Surabaya also participated.
“We train these frontline animal health workers so that they understand the latest diseases originating from animals. Moreover, these diseases have the potential to become plagues. And after a few months of training from October 2023 to April 2024 and 23 batches, at least 690 trained health workers are ready for mitigation, management and plague prevention,” he said.
Looking back at recent events, Indonesia was shocked by several animal diseases, such as FMD, LSD, and ASF plagues. These diseases caused tremendous shocks to the livestock industry in Indonesia. Triakoso hoped that the ongoing cooperation with RMCP could bring good benefits, especially for the livestock industry in Indonesia.
“Hopefully the collaboration will continue effectively. So that we can both benefit others. With this cooperation, hopefully, we can deal with diseases and prevent potential diseases that may occur,” he concluded. (*)