The new Implementation Working Group that was set up under the TB Stakeholders Forum held its first meeting today (Tuesday, March 9).

Under the recently-adopted new TB Eradication Strategy, which was revealed in January, there will be three working groups reporting to the TB Forum: the Finance Working Group; the Implementation Working Group; and the Scientific Working Group.

The first of these, the finance group, had its first meeting last Thursday (March 4), with the implementation group having its first turn today.

Today’s meeting was chaired by Dr. Sean Brady. Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said the meeting was “positive and constructive”.

The purpose of the working group is to “implement the actions in the TB strategy which will reduce the threat of TB to farmers”.

“The Bovine TB Eradication Programme is our largest animal health programme with over nine million individual TB tests carried out each year on more than 110,000 farms. Disease levels have been rising since 2016,” Minister McConalogue said after today’s meeting.

He argued: “[It] also poses a threat to our trade access, with trading partners regularly seeking assurances that our programme is effective.

On a 12-month rolling basis reactor numbers have reached 22,137 and herd incidence has reached 4.19%. This means that in the last 12 months, 4,442 farm families have experienced the hardship and stress associated with a TB breakdown.

“That is why stakeholders must engage with the difficult and serious task of implementing the measures from the renewed TB strategy as urgently as possible. This will reduce disease levels to the benefit of the farming community.”

Minister McConalogue concluded: “I am pleased with the progress made today and I look forward to seeing the results of this group when they report to the forum.”

A series of follow up meetings are planned to progress the matters that were discussed today, according to the Department of Agriculture.