Abstract

The Asia-Pacific region is recognised as an epicentre of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), of which 75% are zoonotic in nature. Vietnam is recognised as a potential hotspot for zoonotic EIDs. There is a growing recognition that progress towards global health security requires greater focus on collaboration between the human health and animal health sectors to control diseases at their animal source and prevent against human health impacts. Assessment of veterinary epidemiology capacity in Vietnam is paramount to strengthening the health security of Asia-Pacific. This study aims to evaluate the national capacity and needs of veterinary services in Vietnam in biosecurity, biosafety and One Health. A cross-sectional, convergent mixed-methods study was conducted between November 2020 and April 2021. An online questionnaire was administered to government-employed field veterinarians. Descriptive analyses and logistic regression models were performed using survey responses to understand capacity in the field. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with stakeholders in veterinary services including government, academia, research institutes, non-profit and international organisations. Coding and thematic analysis using a deductive approach was used for data collected from interviews to contextualise findings from the survey and understand institutional capacity. In total, 178 field veterinarians completed the online survey and 25 stakeholders were interviewed. The majority of participants had reported receiving training in biosecurity and biosafety, including use of personal protective equipment. Most respondents reported practicing good biosecurity measures (92%) and good biosafety measures (88%). Physical and socioeconomic barriers to practicing biosecurity were reported to be prevalent for smallholder farmers, which may suggest a gap in the capacity of veterinary services to provide cost-effective and practical biosecurity strategies. Seventy five percent of participants had never or rarely participated in One Health approaches in the field in the last 12 months and 69% reported further training as a high priority. There was a knowledge gap reported amongst district and commune-level veterinary staff about the need for, and awareness of multisectoral collaboration. Respondents that completed postgraduate qualifications in epidemiology or Field Epidemiology Training Programs (adjusted OR: 3.06; 95% CI: 1.01, 9.23, p = 0.046) and had longer job tenure between 10–12 years (OR: 10.38; 95% CI: 3.06, 35.15, p = <0.001) were more likely to have higher levels of experience in One Health. This study identified gaps in knowledge, attitudes and adoption of practices related to biosecurity, biosafety and One Health specifically in lower-level or less experienced veterinary staff without further training opportunities in epidemiology. These findings enable prioritisation of training, policy, and planning activities to further enhance the national capacity of veterinary services in Vietnam.

Citation: Auplish A, Vu TTT, Pham Duc P, Green A, Tiwari H, Housen T, et al. (2024) Capacity and needs assessment of veterinary services in Vietnam in biosecurity, biosafety and One Health. PLoS ONE 19(1): e0295898. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295898

Editor: Nma Bida Alhaji, Federal University of Technology Minna, NIGERIA

Received: October 21, 2022; Accepted: November 29, 2023; Published: January 11, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Auplish et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: "Datasets supporting the conclusions of this study are included within the paper. Additional data at the level of individual responses is not available as per confidentiality agreements approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee, University of Sydney. Data is available upon request to the Ethics Administration University of Sydney manager by email (ro.humanethics@sydney.edu.au), for researchers who meet the criteria for access to confidential data."

Funding: This study was funded by Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade IndoPacific Centre for Health Security (URL: https://indopacifichealthsecurity.dfat.gov.au). Navneet Dhand received the award as Project Leader (Grant #75990). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295898