Vaccination focus for World Veterinary Day
Veterinary surgeons will be highlighting the importance of vaccination for this year's World Veterinary Day (WVD), which takes place on April 27.
The event will focus on the effective service the profession provides in protecting animal health, as well as preventing zoonotic disease in humans.
Vets from all over the globe will take time to appreciate the success of vaccination campaigns and recognise the importance of their work.
Peter Jones, president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), said: "The discovery of disease prevention and control through vaccination remains one of the greatest scientific achievements and I am delighted that the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has chosen to highlight the value of vaccination for this year's WVD."
He added that, during his lifetime, he has witnessed the eradication of two devastating diseases – smallpox in humans and rinderpest in livestock – brought about through the application of effective vaccination campaigns.
"The impact that vaccines have had on world animal and health has been immense," he continued. "Diseases have been greatly reduced and countless lives saved."
Meanwhile, Bob Stevenson, the BVA's representative on the World Veterinary Association (WVA) and European councillor, commented: "Every day, vets throughout the developed and developing world are planning prevention.
"Parallel developments in immunology in both humans and animals provide yet another example of 'one world, one health, one medicine'."
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
