The Hemispheric Committee for the Eradication of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (COHEFA by its initials in Spanish) was established by Resolution XIII of the 5th Inter-American Meeting, at the Ministerial Level, on Animal Health (RIMSA V), held in Washington, DC, on April 27-30, 1987, through the Pan American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Center (PANAFTOSA-PAHO/WHO), acts as Technical Secretary of the Committee.
In July 1988, the first COHEFA Meeting was held and, since then, 13 Ordinary Meetings and 2 Extraordinary Meetings have been held.
The purpose of the Committee is to promote a forum for debate on/to debate the policies of foot-and-mouth disease eradication programs in the American Continent, defining strategies, lines of action and resource management to comply with the goals established in the action plans of the Hemispheric Program for the Eradication of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (PHEFA).
COHEFA´s is composed of representatives from the public and private sectors of the Americas, distributed in 6 subregions: the Amazon region, the Andean region, the Caribbean, Southern Cone, Mesoamerica, and North America.
