NVMA worries over quackery, antibiotics

The Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) has expressed grave concerns over the alarming rate of quackery in the veterinary medical profession and the indiscriminate use of antibiotics by people who claim to be vet doctors across the country.

The newly elected National President of the association, Professor Bello Mohammed Agaie expressed this fear yesterday in Abuja when he led other officials of the association on a courtesy visit to Media Trust Limited, publishers of the Daily Trust titles.

Professor Agaie stressed that the visit had become necessary in order to gain the media support in the association’s vision of waging war against quacks and the indiscriminate use of antibiotics on food animals.

“We are worried about quackery in the veterinary profession. Everybody just thinks veterinary medicine is for all comers- all you need to do is to open a shop, start selling animal feeds, the next thing you start seeing accessories for treating animals and next time you go there, people are bringing animals and they are treating and vaccinating them. I think that is a very major challenge that the profession is facing. And I think it’s very important that we work with all the relevant agencies to at least, reduce it to the barest minimum. If you go to the southeast, the number of people who have opened up veterinary pharmacies, vet shops for treating animals is really alarming,” he said.

The professor of veterinary pharmacology and toxicology stressed that some of the challenges we face that is now becoming popular around the world is antimicrobial doping issues.

“People give animal antibiotics and think that they are treating them but at the end of it all this product still come back to humans because when you use it in food animals, there are period that has been specified before withdrawal period or else the residues will still be available in the product either meat or milk,” he said.