On Wednesday 03 April 2024 in Yaoundé, the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA) presided over the opening ceremony of the meeting to harmonise Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) control and eradication activities in the countries of the Lake Chad Episystem.

The meeting was attended by participants from Cameroon, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, Chad and Nigeria. Among other things, the aim was to find appropriate advocacy tools to raise awareness of the PPR ecosystem approach among all stakeholders, to encourage the countries surrounding the Lake Chad Basin to engage in discussions aimed at concrete action to eradicate the disease, to implement the ecosystem approach in the regional economic communities to combat the disease effectively, and to draw up recommendations for better integration of this approach.

In his speech, Dr TAÏGA reminded the audience that Cameroon has been committed to this fight since 2018, with the implementation of strong measures such as a vast free vaccination campaign for sheep and goats throughout the country over a period of 3 years. “Over 27 million doses of vaccine have been used in recent years. These vaccines, it should be remembered, are produced locally by the National Veterinary Laboratory (LANAVET), with a view to enhancing the technical capabilities of our national institutions,” he said.

The African Union has developed the Pan-African Programme for the Control and Eradication of Peste des Petits Ruminants, which was adopted by the Heads of State in 2018, renewed in 2021 and recently this year in Addis Ababa. The overall cost of this programme is approximately 530 million euros, 30% of which is expected to come from the Member States. The main aim of the programme is to eradicate PPR by 2030.