WVA was at WOAH 91st GS and 100th Anniversary

From May 26th to 30th, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH – founded as OIE), held its 91st General Session (GS), celebrated 100 years in an event that saw over 1.100 participants, including representatives from 183 WOAH members and several partner organisations that, like WVA, are in official relations with WOAH. Elections were held in person and several standard setting resolutions approved.
Dr Mark Shipp, the new WVA Councillor for Asia and Oceania, and Past President of WOAH Council was awarded with WOAH’s Gold Medal.

The WVA had the chance to meet with the newly elected Director General, Dr Emmanuelle Soubeyran, along with Dr Jean-Philippe Dop and Dr Javier Yugueros-Marcos (Head of Department Antimicrobial Resistance & Veterinary Products). In attendance from WVA were the WVA President Dr John de John, Councillors Dr Shannon Mesenhowski (North America) and Dr Mark Schipp (Asian and Oceania), Executive Manager Ms Magda Lourenço and Policy Officer Ms Yvonne Niño. Both associations discussed their common activities and how to increase involvement in several projects related to One Health, AMR, veterinary health teams, and animal welfare.

WVA and the Booke, co-founders of the Essential Veterinary Medicines List for food producing animals, meet with the WOAH AMR team and set out the next steps to further align the List with WOAH’s and WHO’s recommendations. WVA/Brooke and WOAH look forward to providing an even more robust list, which will serve as a blueprint for the creation of several national lists, very relevant for WOAH’s members.

During the GS, several resolutions were voted and WOAH standards related to AMR were reviewed, recognising the need to implement the One Health concept globally, expanding standards to include companion animals, considering environmental protection, and updating the list of important veterinary antimicrobial agents. Additionally, standards for proper animal welfare during slaughter were updated, and the impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases was acknowledged.
Furthermore, five countries received official recognition of their animal health status from WOAH.

INB12 – Advancing the Pandemic Agreement

The Twelfth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), held from November 4-15, 2024, continued negotiations on the WHO instrument for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) as agreed by the World Health Assembly in December 2021. The session was critical, as parties had until November 12 to determine whether there is sufficient consensus to convene a special World Health Assembly (WHA) in December to adopt the draft agreement. However, many contentious points remain unresolved, particularly around issues such as the proposed Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system, and defining and integrating One Health principles within the Pandemic Agreement.

FAVA’s 23rd Congress in South Korea with 3800 participants

The World Veterinary Association (WVA) participated in the 23rd Congress of the Federation of Asian Veterinary Associations (FAVA) in Daejeon, South Korea. This milestone event, attended by 3,800 participants from more than 30 countries, showcased FAVA’s enduring impact on veterinary medicine across the Asia-Pacific region and its commitment to advancing the veterinary profession globally.

WVA Attends the World Medical Association General Assembly and plans for increased collaboration

The 75th General Assembly of the World Medical Association (WMA), held in Helsinki from October 16-19, 2024, gathered delegates from 50 national medical associations to address pressing issues in global health and ethics. The President of the World Veterinary Association (WVA) attended the landmark event, emphasizing the importance of inter-professional collaboration and the One Health approach.