BMJ / Veterinary Record Joint Issue on Human and Animal Health
25 November 2005
Fears about avian 'flu have highlighted the interrelationship between human and animal health and the need for vets and doctors to work together. This week, two leading professional journals – The Veterinary Record and the British Medical Journal ( BMJ ) – join forces to see how vets and doctors are collaborating in this and other areas.
This week’s issues complement each other and contain numerous articles on the theme of animal and human health. They examine the links between the veterinary and medical professions and explore how doctors and vets can learn from each other. Articles in The Veterinary Record consider the threat from new and emerging infectious diseases, and the steps being taken to detect and prevent them. Others consider some of the diseases that can be carried via food and the role of vets in protecting the food chain. But not all of the articles are about disease: for example, both journals look at the health benefits from companion animals, whether as assistance animals or in helping to treat conditions like depression.
Links for the joint issue have been established between the BMJ website (www.bmj.com) and The Veterinary Record website (www.bvapublications.com) and all of the articles will be available free of charge online.
The joint issue is the result of a request for suggestions for articles published by both journals back in April. Inevitably, it wasn’t possible to take up all the ideas, but Martin Alder, for The Veterinary Record , and Graham Easton, for the BMJ , said, ‘We hope that, between them, the two issues give a sense of how doctors and vets are working together, and perhaps highlight areas where more could be achieved.’
This week’s BMJ can be accessed at www.bmj.com
This week’s Veterinary Record will available at www.bvapublications.com from November 26, 2005
ENDS