External evaluation of the Research Platform in Partnership on Management of Emerging Risks in Southeast Asia on 13th-14th February in Hanoi, Vietnam

10/03/2023
The Research Platform in Partnership on Emerging Risks Management in Southeast Asia (GREASE network) conducted the first phase of its evaluation process in Hanoi on 13th-14th February .
External evaluation of the GREASE Network, from February the 13th to 14th, Hanoi, Vietnam

External evaluation of the GREASE Network, from February the 13th to 14th, Hanoi, Vietnam

GREASE (Gestion des Risques Emergents en Asie du Sud-Est) is a regional network on Emergent Risks Management in Southeast Asia. This research network and its activities were initiated by Cirad at the end of 2009.

GREASE was set up around the integration of 4 major cross-cutting themes that mobilize human and material resources within long-lasting sustainable partnership, to jointly build capacities and share knowledge to address the general issue of emerging risks management in Southeast Asia:

  • Understanding interdependence between epidemiological and socio-economic dynamics in veterinary public health issues.
  • Understanding the interactions between biodiversity and health.
  • Improving epidemiological data (collection/generation and processing) sharing at the animal/human public health interface; and,
  • Evaluating and controlling/reducing animal and zoonotic diseases impact

From 13th to 14th February, three experts of One Health approaches and international partnership, Latiffah Hassan, PhD, DVM, veterinary public health epidemiologist, Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Coordinator of the Malaysia One Health University Network (MyOHUN); Hung Nguyen-Viet, PhD, co-leader of Animal and Human Health Program at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and leader of the CGIAR research program and Simon Reid, PhD, DVM and Veterinary Epidemiologist, Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland were invited to the National Institute of Veterinary Research to discuss the different achievements of the network partners since 2016. More than thirty partners coming from different countries of the Southeast Asia region were invited to present specific activities and challenges associated with the control, management, and prevention of animal and zoonotic diseases. Former students of the InterRisk master's degree testified on the impact the training developed by GREASE partners on their scientific and institutional trajectories. Round tables were organized to plan strategies, governances and scientific innovations that were deemed most relevant to project the GREASE network in the future and confirm its recognition as a champion of socio-ecosystemic approaches of health related issues. The mission continued in Yogyakarta at Gadja Mada University with presentations from wildlife and biodiversity partners, and a visit to a One Helath center.

The core members of this regional platform in partnership currently coordinated by CIRAD are: Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand, the National Institute for Veterinary Research (NIVR) in Vietnam, the National University of Laos (NUOL) in Laos, the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) in Cambodia, Central Mindanao University (CMU) in the Philippines, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Indonesia and CIRAD, a French Agricultural Research Centre. Associated partners also contribute to the dP for the implementation of projects or workshops and for the organization of trainings which include: the Institute Pasteur of Cambodia (IPC), Hong-Kong University-Pasteur Research Center (HKU-PRC), Mahidol University (MU), Veterinarians without Borders France (AVSF), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT), Centre National de la RechercheScientifique (CNRS), OIE, FAO-RAP, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam (OUCRU), Thammasat University (TU), Khon Kaen University (KKU), Veterinary Public Health Centre for Asia Pacific (VPHCAP), Chiang Mai University (CMU) and the School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM-UPLB) of the University of the Philippines at Los Banjos, Philippines. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Nong Lam University of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is the last institution to join the platform in partnership in 2016 as an associated partner. It is envisaged to extend the GREASE partnership to Malaysia, with the University of Putra as a core member.