Veterinarians are essential health workers
Prof. Dr. Md. Moin Ansari
University Professor & HEAD
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology
Bihar Veterinary College
Bihar Animal Sciences University
Patna-800014, Bihar, India.
*********
A veterinarian (vet) is a professional who practices veterinary medicine and their competencies must be regarded as an essential and integral part of health to manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a pivotal role in animal reproduction, health management, conservation, husbandry and breeding and preventive medicine like nutrition, vaccination and parasitic control as well as biosecurity, food safety and zoonotic disease surveillance and prevention. Veterinarians also serve and assist during emergency services including operations or euthanization. They diagnose and control animal illness and diseases and treat sick or injured animals. They prescribe medications when needed as part of a treatment, and perform diagnostic scans including X-rays or CAT scans. Veterinarians also treat fractures and dress wounds. They advise animal owners about the best practices for feeding and management of animal behaviours. procedures.
The World Veterinary Association (WVA) and Health for Animals announced that this year’s theme is “Veterinarians are essential health workers.” The 2024 World Veterinary Day will be held on April 27 and is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of veterinarians to the health of animals, people, and the environment. There are several responsibilities lies on the shoulder of Veterinarian like: respect for and willingness to work with clients and their pets, maintain a high level of client communication and patient care, assist the veterinary staff with administration of the sentinel health monitoring program, duties include examinations, surgeries, diagnosis, procedure, client education, prescribing, and medical record, manage and monitor all care for sick and injured animals, prepare veterinarian csdr reports, which involves documenting medical and surgical conditions and activities applied to patients and doing the service in the people, pets and vets family, and contribute to the growth of a productive practice while focusing on a high-quality standard of healthcare.
Veterinarians contribute to public health during routine practice as skilled diagnosticians for acute and chronic diseases of animals that may affect the owners and their families and the surrounding communities. Communities are best served when veterinarians approach collective health issues with a population health perspective, applying relevant epidemiological principles at the community or population levels. Veterinarians in food animal practice also contribute generally to public health through herd health programs, including disease treatment and prevention; husbandry, handling, and environmental advice; reproductive efficiency; vaccination regimens; nutrition; stress reduction; and biosecurity and biocontainment plans. In addition to monitoring herd health, other important activities include appropriate and judicious use of antimicrobials, disease surveillance, outbreak investigation and mitigation, vaccination against specific high-consequence or high-prevalence pathogens, import-export examinations, health department leadership, public health (risk) communication, food supply.
Veterinarians are employed at various levels of state, central government animal husbandry department and semi government or private diary firms like Milk Federation/Union, Mohter Daurt, Reliance Dairy etc. as Veterinary doctor, veterinary surgeons, animal breeders, etc. Many veterinarians, especially in large animal practice, offer house and farm calls through a mobile practice. The start-up and operating costs of a mobile practice are typically lower than those of a traditional brick and mortar hospital, which can cost millions of dollars or more for equipment and surgical supplies. Veterinarians also contribute in teaching professor and research programme for development program, curriculum and activities related to agriculture/Animal Husbandry for youth adults and graduates and working in classroom, outdoors with experiments and hands –on training.
References:
- AVMA’s advocacy web page.
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): Veterinary Safety and Health.
- “Veterinarians: Occupational Outlook Handbook:: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics”. www.bls.gov. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
