International Veterinary Officers Council (IVOC)
The eighth meeting of the International Veterinary Officers Council (IVOC), hosted for the first time by the South African Veterinary Association (SAVA), was a memorable event. The SAVA offered a unique perspective on many of the issues discussed and this was an important step in the integration of international veterinary events in South Africa.
This forum, which involves senior staff and officers of the member associations, provides the opportunity to discuss mutual problems, of which there are many, but more importantly to share new initiatives and successes. The commonality of issues and the levels of cooperation within the group provide an excellent platform for the meeting. The IVOC meets annually, with the senior staff members providing the continuity and retained knowledge between meetings for incoming officers. Animal welfare was one of the key topics on the agenda and a number of issues were raised in this session. It was interesting to compare notes on national animal welfare strategies. These ranged from the challenges faced by the SAVA in putting policies in place in the absence of a national strategy, through to the Australian strategy which had been particularly successful, with half of the national animal welfare strategy committee being veterinary surgeons.
Incorporated within the IVOC welfare debate was tail docking of dogs. South Africa was introducing a complete ban in 2007 and a ban had been in place in Australia for two years. Legislation banning tail docking was not present in the USA, Canada or New Zealand, although the practice was discouraged in these countries except for therapeutic purposes. Fears of increased damage to the tails of working dogs or increased illegal activity had not materialised as a result of the ban in Australia. Issues surrounding prescribing, dispensing and the availability of medicines, especially for minor use and minor species, were proving to be a challenge for all nations. It was felt that this was an area where it would be helpful for the IVOC nations to share information and potentially look for global solutions.
With regard to practice economics, it was interesting to note that veterinary surgeons in the US continued to reduce the proportion of their income derived from medicines and it now stood at approximately 16 per cent. Education, student issues and continuing professional development (CPD) were raised by all representatives. Each nation had a slightly different status with regard to CPD. South Africa was on the verge of introducing compulsory CPD, and the SAVA had developed some particularly interesting ideas for logging CPD data. Student debt was an international problem, and had resulted in graduates seeking employment that could service that debt. In some instances, this meant moving away from their home countries; for others it meant making career choices away from veterinary research or perhaps not practising in remote rural areas. Financial incentives had been introduced by the US government to encourage recent graduates to work in rural or underserved areas, but as yet the scheme was underfunded.
There was also recognition of the pressure on practices, in financial and human resource terms, for their teaching and support role for students and recent graduates. The other side of the coin was the lack of support that some recent graduates received in practice, which could lead to feelings of isolation, loneliness and, in extreme cases suicide. IVOC nations were able to exchange ideas and information on the different support mechanisms in place, for the benefit of all.
Updated November 2006