10 REASONS WHY VETERINARIANS ARE ESSENTIAL HEALTH WORKERS
VETERINARIANS ARE essential health workers because we play an integral role that intrinsically links the health of animals, people, as well as the environment, #ONEHEALTH.
Humans depend on animals for a variety of services ranging from companionship, work and leisure activities to food, research and education, support services, health and well-being, the list goes on.
Therefore, veterinarians or “Vets” safeguard the health of animals and, indirectly, the environment and people as essential health workers through the following core reasons:
1. Vets protect against zoonotic diseases transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa under natural conditions. For, Vets vaccinate dogs against leptospirosis to reduce dog-to-human transmission.
2. Vets treat and control infections in both companion and farm animal populations.
3. Protects borders through animal quarantine and entry regulations of animal by-products. Direct oversight of the National Emergency Animal Diseases, #VETERINARYSERVICES DIVISION
4. Vets promote food security through their involvement in livestock production systems, providing technical support to farmers and the industry.
5. Vets also promote food safety through health checks, disease surveillance and monitoring. Ensure and train farmers to observe the withdrawal period for medication administered so that our animal by-products from farm to fork are safe for human consumption.
6. Vets inadvertently provide peace of mind as the pets’ health and wellness can impact their human companion’s wellness. No sleep loss once “Fluffy” is fine.
7. The suitability and training of animals to provide support services for the vision impaired, seizure patients, and patients with obsessive-compulsive disorders is under the guidance of Vets.
8. Leisure and social activities engage animals, for horse racing or animals kept at the zoo need a Vet for direct oversight in animal welfare and husbandry needs.
9. For certain research, training and educational advancements, animals are needed to study new phenomena; therefore, Vets are the backbone that aligns scientific studies at the animal level. Vets foster exposure, training and education through theory and practical application at the secondary and tertiary level, #CASE.
10. Animals provide livelihoods for people; hence farmers rely on the guidance of Vets to bolster disaster preparedness and management mechanisms and the necessary protocol for livestock emergencies.
DR JUDIAN MAYE Past Vice President Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association Lecturer at College of Agriculture, Science and Education