11th Meeting of the Hemispheric Committee for the Eradication of Foot-and-Mouth Disease

9 June 2008 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

COHEFA – The Hemispheric Committee for the Eradication of Foot-and-Mouth Disease – was established by Resolution XIII of the 5th Inter-American Meeting, at the Ministerial Level, on Animal Health (RIMSA V), held in Washington, DC, from April 27-30, 1987. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), through the Pan American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Center (PANAFTOSA), acts as Technical Secretary of the Committee.

Through ten COHEFA meetings, a forum of debates on the policies of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) eradication programs in the American continent, they promoted the strengthening of eradication programs and preventive actions to avoid the reintroduction of the agent in the countries and zones that are free of the disease, with or without vaccination.

The Hemispheric Conference for Eradication of Foot-and-Mouth Disease, held in Houston, Texas, USA, on March 3/4, 2004, created the Inter-American Group for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Eradication – GIEFA through the Declaration of Houston, as a working group, with the participation of the public and private sectors. The objective of GIEFA is to reorient the Plan of Action of the Hemispheric Plan for Eradication of Foot-and-Mouth Disease – PHEFA, for the period 2005-2009. This effort is carried out to support national programs for the prevention and eradication of FMD.

The purpose of COHEFA is to ensure the political will to eradicate FMD in the hemisphere of governments and private sectors of the Region, to coordinate and evaluate the progress of the Plan of Action, and to obtain the economic and financial resources for national and subregional programs covered by this Plan.