GALVmed, with its partner Hester Bioscience Limited has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) to accelerate vaccination of livestock against Peste des Petit Ruminants (PPR) and Newcastle Disease in the State of Bihar, India.
GALVmed and Hester are currently working to develop a reliable and sustainable supply of veterinary vaccines and health products in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and in Nepal. BRLPS has strong network of women self-help groups, local presence with offices in Bihar and human resource valuable in getting livestock products where they are needed.
Under this MoU, the Hester-GALVmed initiative will assist BRLPS in the training of vaccinators and supply in a timely manner, cold chain-maintained vaccines and other animal health and nutritional products at block level within Bihar. BRLPS will be responsible among other things for selection of animal health workers to be trained, awareness creation amongst livestock owners and vaccination and service delivery in project areas.
It is envisaged that up to 500 new animal health workers will be trained to vaccinate goats against PPR and poultry against ND. Trained vaccinators will be provided with cool boxes to deliver vaccines safely. More than twenty new stock points and related retail/distribution centers for vaccines and other healthcare products will be established. Training of project staff on preventive health care will be ongoing throughout the project.