The AVA Renewal insert found inthis AVJ, identified the commonoperational focus of international

veterinary Associatons’ on function andstructure, however there are a number ofother important global developments thatmay be of interest to members.

Animal welfare tops the policy andlobbying agenda again this year.Veterinarians are best placed to promotewelfare of animals as this is at the core oftheir professional practice; however othergroups have increasingly assumed thepublic face of this role. Some groups thatportray themselves as champions ofanimal welfare are also exhibiting signs ofa much broader agenda and the groundneeds to be regained so the publicrecognises veterinarians as the stewards ofanimal welfare.

The American Veterinary MedicalAssociation (AVMA) has offered tocoordinate work among members of theInternational Veterinary Officers Council(IVOC) to develop an overarchingdefinition of animal welfare we can allutilise. This is a mammoth task and maytake some time, however IVOC membersstrongly supported this initiative.Meantime IVOC members will continueto share information and policies onanimal welfare in our respectivecountries. In this context, Australiabriefed the group on AVA’s perspectiveson mulesing and livestock transport.

Gaining Government attention andsupport for improvements in emergencypreparedness remains a challenge formost IVOC member associations. Thisseems extraordinary when 867 of the1,438 known pathogens – 62% - arezoonotic. IVOC members have been

encouraged by the establishment of aVeterinary Reserve in Australia and manyare lobbying their own governments toestablish a similar scheme.

While Australia is experiencing adecline in cat and dog populations, itseems that this is not the case forAmericans, Canadians and SouthAfricans. In Britain there is an increase inownership of cats and fish, but dogownership seems to be slowly declining.There was some debate as to whetherpeople are looking for lower maintenancecompanion animals; however this itemneeds to remain on the radar screen,particularly when more than 80% ofveterinary practice income is now linkedto companion animals.

Availability and dispensing ofveterinary drugs are matters of concernto all IVOC members. Drug companiesare generally not willing to compile datafor drug approvals in countries where themarket is relatively small, particularly as

the process in many countries demandslocal data. Even the American market isaffected in that they have difficulty ingetting drugs for minor species approved.There was discussion on harmonising thedrug approval process for veterinarydrugs, at least for English speakingcountries, and IVOC will pursue thisissue with the World VeterinaryAssociation in the first instance.

Dispensing remains an issue incountries where veterinarians must nowprovide a script and the client has theoption of having the veterinarian,pharmacist or other registered providerfill that script.

Having para-professionals as part ofthe veterinary team was a topic of realinterest, particularly in relation toliability. IVOC members were interestedto hear about Australia’s microchipstandards and the challenges we’veexperienced by having many registries(only two registries in Australia arerecognised by AVA as meeting AVAstandards). Some IVOC members werealso keen to discuss the impact of theprofession’s changing gendercomposition and the group concludedthat the issue was not gender but rathergenerational.

These annual meetings are reallyvaluable in that we have an opportunityto learn from one another, and this yearthe CEOs also met to discuss issuessurrounding income generation,outsourcing, endorsements and memberservices.

Margaret ConleyCEO

NewsNewsNewsNews

458 Australian Veterinary Journal Volume 83, No 8, August 2005

AVA CEO Margaret Conley

Comment

What is happening in VeterinaryAssociations internationally?

Member Associations of the International Veterinary Officers Council (IVOC) travelled from around the globe to share new information and policies