Dr Temsumeren,
Director AH & Veterinary Services Department, Kohima
The World Veterinary Association started World Veterinary Day back in 2000, which is celebrated on the last Saturday of April every year.
20 years on, the World Veterinary Day is being celebrated with different themes each year. It is also a time when the hard work of veterinary professionals around the world are given due recognition for their outstanding contribution to mankind.
The April 25, 2020 is World Veterinary Day and the theme ‘Environmental Protection for Improving Animal & Human Health’ is very relevant at these times of COVID19 pandemic. The world has come to a standstill with this pandemic and has definitely made mankind realise that Life can be so fragile and helpless despite the economic powers and advancement in science and medicine unless we maintain a balance on this planet earth.
Therefore, the choice of the theme Environmental protection for improving animal and human health is vital for citizens to understand the saying, there is enough for everyone but not greed. Veterinarians are considered a physician, a surgeon and a psychiatrist who understands those whom others cannot understand because Veterinarians work at the interface of human, animal and environmental health. They are uniquely positioned to view this dynamic through the lens of public health impact.
It must be noted that Animals share human environment, food and water. In 2005, approximately 21 billion food animals were produced to help feed a world population of 6.5 billion persons; the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that the demand for animal protein will increase by 50% in 2020, especially in developing countries. Given the scenario, humans, animals, and animal products now move rapidly around the World, and pathogens are adapting, finding new niches and jumping across species into new hosts.
Therefore, the vets are the sentinels for environment, human and public health problems, including bio-terrorism. Our responsibility is to take care of our environment. As this year’s theme of World Veterinary Day, ‘Environment Protection for Improving Animal and Human Health’ revolves around the extremely important and inextricable link between these three entities, it is an opportunity for veterinarians to exchange innovative ideas and learn other approaches to keep raising awareness on how harmful actions towards the environment can affect animals and human.
