Greater Mekong Subregion – Responses to Infectious Diseases Project Quarterly Performance Report No. 3

The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-486-09-00005, with an estimated budget of $4.4 million for the period from September 16, 2009, to September 15, 2014. The project is implemented by the Kenan Institute Asia (K.I.Asia) in collaboration with various partner organizations. The GMS-RID project has three main objectives: to improve cross-border infectious disease surveillance and response, to manage malaria drug resistance control, and to establish public-private partnerships. To achieve these objectives, the project employs a range of approaches, including trans-boundary and multi-sectoral collaboration, regional, national, and local capacity building, facilitation of inter-country cooperation, learning exchanges, grant/subgrant/subcontract management, public-private sector alliance building, and integration of activities that promote gender equality and avoid adverse gender impacts. The project targets 14 selected provinces with important international border land crossing points of entry, including China, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In the fourth quarter of 2010, the project implemented several activities under Component 1, Cross-Border Infectious Disease Surveillance and Response. These activities included a technical training and planning workshop on joint cross-border coordinated response to zoonotic disease outbreaks, which was conducted from June 29 to July 2, 2010. The project also implemented Activity A3, Joint Action Program for cross-border collaboration on ZOID-SAR among Cambodia-Thailand, Cambodia-Vietnam, Lao PDR-Thailand, Lao PDR-Vietnam, and Lao PDR-Yunnan. Subgrant letters of agreement were executed with implementing partner organizations in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam. The results of the activity included the submission of the first deliverables, project administration information, provincial health program information, and work plans. Activities were initiated at cross-border sites, including joint orientation and planning meetings. In addition, the project implemented Activity A4, Provide ICT set for cross-border outbreak information sharing, which involved procuring notebook computers, MS Office licenses, and all-in-one fax, printer, scanner machines to provide the hardware platform to support cross-border outbreak information sharing. The ICT sets were procured for Kien Giang and Quang Tri provinces in Vietnam, and the next steps include providing the ICT sets to the provincial health departments and following up on cross-border outbreak information sharing by the provinces with their twin-province cross-border sites. The project also implemented Activity A5, Promoting coordination and sustainability for cross-border collaboration by making trips in the region to participate in regional meetings/events. The next steps for this activity include finalizing planning and conducting joint cross-border exercises on zoonotic disease outbreaks at various sites, including Luang Nam Thai-Mengla, Chiang Rai-Bokeo, Mukdahan-Savannakhet, Trat-Koh Kong, Savannakhet-Quang Tri, and Kamphot-Kien Giang.