BSE Lessons Learnt: Will Government Act...

18 January 2001

'The government has the opportunity to improve the situation for the future and we hope that they will.' He went on to say 'We are faced with a multitude of objectives, all laudable, but not with enough resources to deliver the goods. Government is very good at setting objectives but far less so at achieving them. Why devalue efforts in this way? 'Successive reorganisations in the public sector have broken links between veterinarians contributing to and controlling different parts of the food chain. "Joined up" government might be the motto but the opposite has been the case in reality' he said. 'We need "joined up" surveillance from Ministerial advisers to the farmer, the food processor and the environmentalist. 'If food safety is so important we must underpin objectives with adequate surveillance' Dr Little stressed. 'We are all for clear cut tasks, cost effective controls, national and international compliance but we should not kid ourselves, especially after BSE, that we can do it on the cheap'. As Lord Phillips' report so succinctly said: - An effective system of animal disease surveillance is a prerequisite to the effective control of animal diseases -Identification of BSE demonstrated the importance of the animal disease surveillance system of the SVS and of the close links that existed between the Veterinary Investigation Centres and the Central Veterinary Laboratory -It is important that details of a new disease which may have implications for human and animal health should be disseminated within the State and private veterinary systems in order to encourage the reporting of similar cases. 'We wholeheartedly agree', said Dr Little. 'Government asked for an Inquiry, they got it and now they have the answers. It's time for action.'

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