BVA Congress Confronts the Big Issues of Today
UK - The British Veterinary Association Congress held at the Royal College of Physicians in London, at the weekend featured a highly topical programme.
30 September 2008
2 minute read
Top veterinarians gathered at a congress this weekend to discuss current issues in animal health and ethics. A major point of contention was the growing number of zoonotic diseases and how we are best enabled to combat them.
The congress featured a highly topical programme, covering the ‘contentious issues’ debates, including ‘Cull or let live?’ and ‘Getting the right deal for animal health - cost and responsibility sharing’, but also ‘Bluetongue - where are we?’, ‘Emerging diseases in Europe’ and ‘The welfare of captive and free-living wild animals’.
Congress speaker, Dr Sarah Cleaveland, a veterinary epidemiologist whose work on zoonotic, livestock and wildlife diseases in East Africa, was the recipient of this year’s Trevor Blackburn Award. She spoke about the importance of the control of animal diseases in the fight against poverty during the Overseas Group’s session which seeks to highlight the varied roles of the veterinary profession within international development and underline the need for vets to be included in multi-disciplined approaches to poverty reduction.
With climate change having taken a central position on the world’s agenda and the arrival of bluetongue having all too vividly demonstrated how climate change can impact directly on Britain’s animal health, delegates at this year’s BVA Congress also heard from Professor Robert Watson, Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser, who set out the challenges ahead in his address ‘Climate change: the global challenge’.
Further Reading
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- | You can view the presentations by clicking here. |
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