Celebrating the International Day of Veterinary Medicine

The International Day of Veterinary Medicine takes place each year on 9 December. It is an opportunity to not only reflect on the sector’s important contribution to animal health but to celebrate the work that veterinarians do on a daily basis, all around the world.

The human population is fast-growing, but so is the number of pets and livestock worldwide, meaning that veterinarians are more important than ever. It is estimated that more than half of the global population has a pet at home, with dogs being the most popular pet, closely followed by cats. Meanwhile, by 2050, the global cattle population is expected to reach 2.6 billion, while the number of goats and sheep is set to increase to 2.7 billion.

The importance of veterinarians is far-reaching. They improve our world in a number of ways, from fighting to stop zoonotic diseases before they reach people and providing frontline care to millions of animals on which countless people globally depend, be it cattle, sheep, and pigs for their livelihoods or pets for wellbeing.

The most recent outbreak of avian influenza – which has wiped out over 50 million birds in the US this year alone and has become the country’s deadliest outbreak – has placed a spotlight on the importance of veterinary medicine, not simply for animal health, but for tackling zoonoses, too. Increased access to veterinarians worldwide would help to safeguard communities and their livelihoods everywhere.

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Pet and livestock populations worldwide are on the rise, and is unlikely to slow down anytime soon. But the value of veterinarians goes beyond taking care of animals. In fact, from eradicating diseases to protecting people, veterinarians improve our world. Here’s how:

1) Advise on biosecurity measures: Each year, 2.3 million people die as a direct result of 13 zoonoses. Veterinarians play an important role in monitoring and controlling these illnesses to safeguard public health better. For example, veterinarians control livestock diseases like salmonella in poultry to prevent food-borne illnesses in people. Lastly, by managing the spread of fleas and ticks in animals, veterinarians reduce the spread of flea-borne diseases, such as tapeworms and viral and bacterial pathogens that can also affect humans. The work of veterinarians in the livestock sector has helped to eradicate rinderpest – also known as the cattle plague – and reduced new cases of rabies in Latin America and the Caribbean by more than 98% since 1993.

2) Care for animals: Veterinarians provide day-to-day care to pets and other animals worldwide. They provide medicine, vaccinations, and expertise and, above all, protect the livelihoods of countless communities. For example, in Europe, over 300,000 veterinarians provide care for over 600 million animals – 290 million household pets and 371 million livestock animals, such as cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.

3) Contribute to the health sector: Veterinary medicine has not just improved animal health, but has even used that knowledge to benefit people. For instance, the HPV vaccine that is used to protect girls from cervical cancer emerged from work intended to tackle bovine papilloma virus (BPV) in cattle.

Veterinarians are on the frontline of improving animal health, in particular the battle of antimicrobial health. Ensuring that veterinarians continue to have access to resources and training is crucial in upholding animal health, and governments and policymakers must be on board.

In 2019, HealthforAnimals and its members set 25 Commitments for the sector to undertake by 2025. This included training more than 100,000 veterinarians in the responsible use of medicines, launching 15 veterinary training partnerships and investing at least $5 million in veterinary education scholarships and grants.

Since then, 49 out of 100 new vaccines have been delivered, 657,000 veterinary professionals have been indirectly trained, and $6.7 million has been invested in veterinary scholarships, exceeding the $5 million goal.

In the United States, one out of four pet owners experiences barriers to obtaining veterinary care such as lack of transport or knowledge of veterinary facility locations.