EUROPEAN
VETERINARY WEEK 2009
Animal and human health: a public good
Brussels, 28 September - "The recent outbreaks of
avian influenza have highlighted once more the link between animal
and public health and the importance of veterinary and medical sectors
working in a coordinated way", recalled Androulla Vassiliou,
EU Commissioner for Health. Speaking at the opening conference of
the EU Veterinary Week 2009 - a joint initiative of DG Sanco and
the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) - she pointed out
that his year's event also marked the launch of the consultation
on the future EU Animal Health Law.
"Animal health and human health are public goods, recalled
FVE president Walter Winding during the panel discussion on animal
health legislation. "It could therefore be dangerous to
defer the responsibility entirely to the private sector. While parts
of it can be transferred, the essential responsibility for public
goods shall remain with the state!" This concern was echoed
by Sue Davies, of the UK consumers' organisation 'Which?', speaking
on BSE and other food safety crises from a consumer's viewpoint.
She voiced her concern about the possible transfer of responsibility
for food safety to the private food operators themselves. "We
should learn from the lessons of BSE", she said, calling
for more transparency and effective enforcement.
28 September was also World Rabies Day, recalled Thomas Müller,
of the German WHO1 Collaborating Centre for Rabies Surveillance
and Research. "Rabies is the neglected disease of poverty",
he reminded. Most of the 55,000 deaths due to rabies each year affect
the world's poorest countries. He called for data-driven assessment
for an estimate of true incidence, in order to break the 'circle
of neglect' perpetuated by ignorance and complacence.
"We should learn to think outside the box when it comes
to influenza", stressed Ilaria Capua of the Istituto Zooprofilattico
Sperimentale delle Venezie (Italy). We should challenge the dogma
that a new pandemic is necessarily of a novel subtype - or that
cross-reactivity between antibodies in humans against an animal
virus of the same subtype is protective against a novel animal virus.
"This dogma has affected our preparedness: we expected an
H5 or H7 pandemic, not an H1..." Joint surveillance and
research between the human and veterinary components was required,
she added, to tackle human and animal health as a collaborative
effort.
But an interdisciplinary 'One Health' approach should not be limited
to avian influenza. Katinka de Balogh, of the FAO2 presented
the Global strategy for reducing risks of infectious diseases at
the animal-human-ecosystems interface. She proposed to allocate
the major zoonoses into clusters (Emerging zoonoses, Neglected/endemic
zoonoses and Food-borne diseases) and to develop a strategic approach
for each cluster.
The 'One Health' collaboration between medical and veterinary scientists
should be institutionalised, both at government, research laboratories
and undergraduate level. "Public health and zoonoses should
be taught jointly to veterinary and medical students, encouraging
the exchange of expertise and close collaboration", concluded
Walter Winding.
The success of the 2008 and 2009 EU Veterinary Weeks have led
the Commission to repeat the initiative, with the next edition planned
in June 2010.
Notes for Editors:
- 1 World Health Organisation
- 2 Food and Agriculture Organisation
- The conference presentations are available on the DG Sanco website
http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/strategy/events_en.htm
- An education video on rabies was also presented during the conference,
which fell on the same day as the World Rabies Day. The video
is available for free download in 29 languages on the following
webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/pets/video_en.htm
- The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) is an umbrella
organisation of 50 veterinary organisations from 38 European countries,
representing a total of around 200 000 veterinarians.
For further information, consult the FVE website http://www.fve.org
or contact the FVE Secretariat on tel +32 2 533 70 20 or by e-mail
to info@fve.org.
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