Introductory Remarks on the WHO/MZCP
People have always depended on animals as sources of food, transport, labour and companionship. However, animals are also sources of a large number of infections transmitted to humans though direct and indirect contact: the zoonotic diseases.
These diseases, with their reservoirs in domestic and wild animals, impose a heavy burden to the public health and animal health sectors, particularly among people living and working in rural areas. Moreover, foodborne zoonotic diseases seriously affect small age children, elderly and immuno-suppressed people, either in rural or urban areas.
In the Mediterranean and Middle East (MME) regions the animal populations represents a very close link between the humans and their surrounding environment. This well defined link is manifested in traditional farming of sedentary, semi-nomadic and nomadic communities, as well as where livestock intensification has been introduced.
This group of infections not only represent a major risk to human health in all countries of these regions, but also drastically affect animal production, reducing the amount of high value food to the sectors of the population most in need. In addition, zoonotic diseases create a barrier to international trade and impair national wealth and development.
It was in 1978 when the 31st World Health Assembly issued its memorable resolution on "Prevention and Control of Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases to Animal Products". This resolution was intended for the development of a network of regional zoonoses control centres to face, in a co-ordinated and integrated way, the serious socio-economic impact created by zoonoses and related foodborne diseases.
The first group of States from the Mediterranean region that responded to the appeal of the World Health Organization (WHO) included Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Libya and Turkey.
This resolution required for its realisation a long and steady collaboration between this group of Member-States and the Veterinary Public Health (VPH) Unit of the WHO, at that time.
The fruit of this international collaboration was the establishment in November 1978 of the Mediterranean Zoonoses Control Programme (MZCP) and in February 1979 of its co-ordinating Office the Mediterranean Zoonoses Control Centre (MZCC), in Athens, Greece.
The concern of the Mediterranean countries, as well as that of the WHO, about the increasing social and economic impact that zoonoses were causing, was the incentive for the creation of this regional Programme in the Mediterranean, which gradually was expanded also in a part of the Middle East. It was a challenge for deciding the common management of prevention, surveillance and control programmes on major zoonoses such as brucellosis, rabies, echinococcosis, leishmaniasis and foodborne zoonotic infections.
The group of States has expanded since and today the following countries are full-members of the MZCP: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Kuwait, Lebanon, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Syria and Turkey, while other countries are associated to the Programme such as, Algeria, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Morocco and Tunisia.
During the past twenty six years "miracles" were not achieved nor were these expected. However, responsible work was steadily performed. Workshops and Training Courses referring to various problems of zoonotic and foodborne diseases were organised and attended by representatives of the Ministries of Health and Agriculture of the Member-countries. Missions of experts were carried out to study difficult situations created in Member-countries and to propose specific prevention and control activities. Training courses for laboratory staff (much needed in the countries of the region) were organised in specialised institutions. Informative material of various kinds and reports summarising the presentations and discussions made during the MZCP Workshops and the recommendations issued were regularly distributed to the participants, the MZCP National Co-ordinators and the Heads of the responsible authorities in each country, as well as to international organizations.
The pages to follow in this website include all information on this specialised WHO Programme, as well as, educational material on zoonoses, foodborne diseases and food safety.
The WHO/Mediterranean Zonoses Control Centre, Athens, Greece, will be happy to receive comments and suggestions from the visitors of this website.
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Download the Five keys to safer food poster (in English)
Αποθηκεύστε τα Πέντε κλειδιά για ασφαλέστερα τρόφιμα (στα Ελληνικά)
More information on the 5 Keys
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