Published

Rinderpest disease resurfaced in Ghana in 1985 after earlier attempts to eradicate it from WestAfrica through the JP15 project. Ghana continued annual vaccinations of cattle againstrinderpest until 1996 even though the last outbreak oft he disease was reported i n August1988. The sustained vaccination campaign was made possible through the assistance receivedfrom the European Union under the Pan African Rinderpest Campaign project (PARC).Ghana was granted rinderpest disease free status on 25 th February 2003 by the OIEThe main objectives of Pan African Programme for the control of Epizootics (PACE) arei. to contribute to rural development and poverty alleviation by raising the incomes oflivestock producers, particularly those of smallholders,ii. to reduce the country's increasing dependence on imports of livestock and livestockproducts, and to reduce the financial burden on the government of services it providesThe specific objectives of PACE, Ghana in the third year are:i. to strengthen livestock farmers associationsii. to increase the income of farmers through adequate disease control measuresiii. to improve on the participation of the private sector to bring about effective andefficient animal health delivery in the countryiv. to strengthen two main laboratories in Accra and Pong-Tamale for effective andaccurate disease diagnosesv. to strengthen women groups in livestock areas to be more active in livestockdevelopmentOutputs of objectives• Meetings with 20 farmers associations in the Upper West and Upper East regions formedunder PARC reactivated and functional December 2003• Out breaks of PPR and NCD c ontrolled and farmers e am more incomes from s ales o fchicken and small ruminants by January 2004• Private veterinarians involved in disease surveillance and reporting by March 2004• Laboratories in Accra and Pong-Tamale equipped with computers and reagents for diseasediagnoses by March 2004• 20 women groups facilitated to improve rural poultry production by April 2004