National Comprehensive Avian and Human Influenza Strategy and Action Plan 2007-2009

Objectives

The 2007 to 2009 Comprehensive Avian and Human Influenza Strategy and Action Plan provides a coordinated, multi-sectoral framework to prevent, prepare for and respond to avian and pandemic influenza, while mobilising resources and guiding more detailed national and ministry-level plans.[1][2][3]Its overarching purpose is to reduce the risk and impact of avian and pandemic influenza in Mongolia, protect the population, and contribute to international early warning and risk reduction through surveillance linked to the migratory bird flyways crossing the country.[1]

• Reduce outbreaks in birds and poultry, prevent spread to other livestock, and prevent transmission from birds to people.[2][3][4]
• Limit the occurrence and spread of avian influenza, maintain outbreak risk at an acceptable level, and reduce associated health and economic consequences.[5]
• Prevent the emergence of pandemic influenza in Mongolia and limit transmission and impacts from epidemic viruses of domestic or external origin.[2]
• Prepare to detect, contain and mitigate pandemic influenza, including limiting illness and deaths, sustaining essential services and infrastructure, and reducing economic and societal disruption.[4]
• Strengthen veterinary capacity, governance and enforcement; identify and investigate H5N1 in migratory wild birds; and prevent virus introduction and spread through poultry production and trade.[6]
• Strengthen human-health capacity for surveillance, early warning, diagnosis, treatment, infection control, prevention, containment, communication and health promotion.[7][4]

The strategy combines immediate preparedness needs with sustainable longer-term capacity development across animal health, human health, emergency management and coordination, information, education and communication, and implementation monitoring and evaluation.[1][8][7]It envisages a phased shift in emphasis from animal-health action during pandemic phase 3 towards human health, emergency management and more intensive interministerial coordination as human-to-human transmission advances towards phase 6.[3]

• Develop detailed preparedness, response and recovery plans at national, ministry, aimag, capital-city, soum, bagh and khoroo levels.[7][2]
• Improve public, professional and sectoral information on suspicious poultry and wild-bird events, hygiene practices and pandemic preparedness.[6][9]
• Integrate pandemic preparedness into Community Based Disaster Management programmes and establish an emergency-management information system that includes monitoring and evaluation.[4]
• Support global and domestic knowledge of avian influenza transmission by improving understanding of migratory bird populations and migration patterns.[1][6]

Implementation

Implementation follows an integrated and sustainable delivery model that builds on existing animal-health, human-health and emergency-management activities, connecting sector plans through central multisectoral coordination.[1][7]The Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s animal-health strategy, the Ministry of Health and National Centre for Communicable Diseases human-health contingency planning, and the National Emergency Management Agency’s emergency-management action plan form the principal operational planning instruments.[3][6][4]

• Coordinate animal health, human health, emergency management, communication and monitoring activities through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Health and National Emergency Management Agency as the principal agencies.[7][9]
• Build capacity among the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and cooperating institutions, including the Institute of Biology and Ministry of Nature and Environment.[6]
• Apply measures for veterinary services, poultry biosecurity, wildlife surveillance and response, case management, laboratory diagnosis, epidemiological surveillance, social distancing, hygiene and personal protective equipment.[6][9]
• Develop sectoral plans through line ministries and affiliated bodies, consolidate them through the National Emergency Management Agency, and test preparedness through training, simulations and regional rural plan-evaluation exercises.[2]
• Deliver local action through governors and emergency, veterinary and medical structures, supported by community volunteers.[2]

Governance arrangements are designed to escalate with the pandemic threat. During the pre-pandemic period, the National Emergency Management Agency establishes a national Coordination Committee under the Minister responsible for emergency situations, while emergency departments in aimags and the capital city establish professional committees.[7]During the pandemic alert period, national and aimag-level coordination committees operate under the Minister in Charge of Emergency Situations; during a full pandemic, the national committee operates under the Prime Minister with broader ministerial representation.[10]

• Chair the national Coordination Committee through the head of the National Emergency Management Agency, supported by a secretariat led by its senior health-in-emergencies officer.[7]
• Include emergency management, health, veterinary, environmental, agricultural, inspection, foreign affairs, tourism, transport and finance authorities in national coordination.[7]
• Establish a United Nations Consultative Committee for avian and human influenza, chaired by the United Nations Resident Coordinator and involving relevant United Nations agencies and Mongolian institutions.[10]
• Lead cross-sectoral information, education and communication through a working group chaired by the National Center for Communicable Diseases.[7][9]
• Mobilise resources and coordinate international organisations and donors through the Ministry of Finance.[10]

Monitoring and evaluation use existing sectoral arrangements, strengthened by a coordinated system implemented by the National Emergency Management Agency and incorporated into its disaster-management information system.[7][9]This system is intended to track national and sectoral progress, evaluate infrastructure preparedness and vulnerability information, and align national practice with regional and international avian-influenza guidance.[7][9]The Coordination Committee meets semi-annually on the national agenda and quarterly among key stakeholders to review progress and resolve coordination issues, while the Minister for Emergency Situations reports implementation and results to Government in the fourth quarter each year.[9]The National Emergency Management Agency also reports nationwide preparedness and prevention coordination to Government and may convene the committee quarterly or urgently as needed.[10]

Financing is intended to support resource mobilisation and priority capacity strengthening.[1][3]Appendix G identifies estimated requirements, secured or available resources and funding gaps for government, human-health, and emergency-management activities, including State Specialized Inspection Agency requirements, but the supplied material provides no monetary values, detailed allocations, financing shares or economic assumptions.[3][4][9]Information, education and communication activities are included in sector plans and budgets, with support reported from the Government of Japan through UNICEF.[9]

Monitoring & Evaluation

The strategy establishes implementation monitoring and evaluation as a cross-cutting function, combining existing sectoral systems with coordinated national oversight led by the National Emergency Management Agency.[8][7][2]Monitoring is intended to support preparedness, response, recovery, intersectoral coordination and progress tracking across all levels of government.[7][4][9]

• Use existing monitoring and evaluation arrangements in responsible animal health, human health, emergency management and other sectoral organisations, while strengthen coordination through a national system implemented by the National Emergency Management Agency.[7][9]
• Integrate comprehensive monitoring and evaluation into the National Emergency Management Agency disaster management information system, incorporating sector-level assessments, essential-infrastructure preparedness and vulnerability information.[9]
• Align national monitoring and evaluation arrangements with regional and international avian influenza guidance.[9]
• Evaluate preparedness plans through training exercises and simulations, including regional rural training on plan evaluation.[2]
• Conduct epidemiological surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, early case identification, case management and infection-control measures within the human health response.[6]
• Detect and investigate H5N1 in migratory wild birds, using surveillance to understand migration patterns, inform domestic control and contribute to global early warning and knowledge.[1][6]
• Hold semi-annual Coordination Committee meetings to review the national agenda and ongoing work, and quarterly stakeholder meetings to monitor progress and address coordination issues.[9]
• Require the Minister for Emergency Situations to report implementation and national-agenda results to Government in the fourth quarter of each year.[9]
• Require the National Emergency Management Agency to report nationwide preparedness and prevention coordination to Government, while its secretariat convenes the Coordination Committee quarterly or when urgent issues arise.[10]

Formal quantitative indicators, surveillance performance targets, reporting templates, evaluation criteria, independent review arrangements and detailed accountability schedules are not specified in the available text.[1][8][10][3][6]

Costing & Financing

The strategy treats financing as an enabler of preparedness, response and sustained capacity, with budgets intended to support resource mobilisation across animal health, human health, emergency management, coordination and communication activities.[1][3][4][9]Available extracts identify budget appendices and resource requirements but provide no monetary amounts or detailed financial allocations.[8][3][6][4][9]

• Provide an accompanying budget as an initial basis for resource mobilisation and the identification of priority resource requirements.[3]
• Treat identified requirements as indicative initial priorities, recognising that further resources may be needed to strengthen and sustain activities beyond the three-year funding framework.[3]
• Use Appendix G to present estimated financial requirements, secured or available funding and funding gaps for government strategy and action-plan activities, although the available text does not reproduce the values.[3][6]
• Mobilise additional resources for human health capacity, including rapid detection, reporting, containment and the five human health preparedness areas of capacity building, surveillance and early warning, health-system response, prevention and containment, and communication and health promotion.[4]
• Mobilise additional resources for multisectoral coordination, pandemic preparedness and emergency-response capacities, including resource requirements for the State Specialized Inspection Agency within the emergency management and coordination budget.[9]
• Include Information, Education and Communication activities in sector plans and budgets while treating them separately to reinforce their cross-sectoral importance.[9]
• Use support provided by the Government of Japan through UNICEF for Information, Education and Communication activities.[9]
• Assign the Ministry of Finance a role in coordinating with international organisations and donors, supporting loans and aid policy coordination, and facilitating resource mobilisation.[7][10]

Budget allocations, costed activities, financing shares, donor amounts, funding-gap values and economic assumptions are not specified in the supplied material.[8][5][10][4][9]