The Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), has launched a digital platform to improve efficiency in disease reporting and timely control of outbreaks.

The platform would link district, regional and head offices of the VSD to facilitate swift reporting, feedback and information sharing in the fight against animal diseases in the country.

It was developed in partnership with the Ghana Poultry Project (GPP) with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The GPP is a five-year project that seeks to increase the competitiveness of domestic production and processing of poultry meat and eggs in Ghana by facilitating partnerships and access to finance, build capacity of producer and trade organizations and increase demand for domestically produced poultry meat and eggs.

Dr. William Adu Kuma, Director of VSD said the platform would create access to a vast array of veterinary knowledge in E-Resources and open avenues and opportunities for professional education.

He said it was time to depart from the traditional pen and paper reporting to keep up with the pace of the changing trend for real time response to disease outbreak.

"We are rolling out this platform in all the regions and districts in Ghana to make sending of reports by paper a thing of the past", he stated.

He praised GPP for the support, saying that the Directorate had benefited immensely from the numerous interventions in the poultry sector.

Ms Carianne de Boer, the Chief of Party of GPP, said the VSD was an important partner in delivering animal services, providing extension, and increasing productivity and profitability of poultry in Ghana.

She said that informed the GPP's commitment to play a role in their efforts to increase internal capacity and enhance efficiency through technology.

"I am so happy that VSD has chosen the digitization path and this is a great way of ensuring availability of tools and accessible to all. It encourages exploration and discovery and will enhance communications among all units and offices of the directorate", she observed.

The platform, she said, was a cost-effective approach to achieving productivity, a fast way to be updated about the latest developments, and to foster reflective practice as well as create room for institutional memory.