To make matters worse, the bVPN doesn’t address the
most important problem in the buffalo industry- the
lack of capacity and resources available at local state
veterinarian level.
The Wildlife Group of the South African Veterinary
Association (WG) also submitted detailed
recommendations on the draft bVPN, but to no avail.
Thanks to Dr Faffa Malan, the WG was introduced to
the National Animal Health Forum (NAHF click for link)
and was impressed by their ability to work alongside
DAFF, and in early 2017 Stu was elected to represent
the wildlife veterinarians as a liaison with the NAHF.
The reality is that the control of CA or bTB is not just
a buffalo problem, and efforts in the wildlife industry
must dovetail with a national strategy. Likewise, the
struggling state veterinary services is a burden for
both wildlife and livestock producers alike.
and it hopefully enabled a paradigm shift for the
private sector. Much frustration was vented due to
the historic lack of progress, but failure to resolve
deficiencies in the bVPN probably stem from a
controversial meeting with DAFF, the Onderstepoort
Veterinary Institute and buffalo owners last year when
the bVPN was still in draft.
With many issues on the table, there was notably
consensus to establish the Buffalo Controlled Disease
Committee (bCDC), a NAHF managed platform
for stakeholders to engage with DAFF on buffalo
regulatory matters.
Already, the bCDC has met with the Director of Animal
Health, Dr Mpho Maja, and head of Disease Control,
Dr Cornelia Gerstenberg. There are tough issues to
dissect at these meetings, but it’s amazing how much
can be achieved when a core representative group
of people treat each other with mutual respect and
focus on positive attainable outcomes.
Recognising the broad range of challenges facing the
South African rural economy, the NAHF under the
chairmanship of Dr Pieter Vervoort, promote animal
health and sustainable livestock agriculture through
the collaboration between the private sector and
DAFF. The next bCDC meeting is scheduled for 20 September
2017. Two items are of priority:
On 7 September 2017 at the Faculty of Veterinary
Science, University of Pretoria, a very productive
meeting hosted by the NAHF brought together
representatives of the WG, the Faculty, DAFF and a
number of buffalo owners representing WRSA, Buffalo
Owners Association and other independents. o we’ll also start working through the buffalo VPN
line-by-line.
Dr Pieter Vervoort has a solution-based approach
o a proposal to authorize private veterinarians
to assist local state veterinarians with their
functions, and
There is a lot of work to do, but by establishing trust
and jettisoning egos at the door, there is no reason
why buffalo disease control and national animal
health cannot both be improved for the sake of the
rural economy
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