JVMA wins World Veterinary Day Award

The Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association (JVMA) has been selected as the winner of the World Organisation for Animal Health’s (OIE’s) World Veterinary Day Award 2016. The award is given annually to the World Veterinary Association (WVA) member group whose activities related to the World Veterinary Day theme are adjudged the best by the WVA and OIE. This is the first year the JVMA has applied for the award and its submission came out on top among the 30 applications from member countries submitted to the WVA.

World Veterinary Day was observed on April 30 this year.

The award was presented on Sunday May 22, 2016, on the opening day of the 84th General Session of the World Assembly of OIE Delegates in Paris, France by WVA President Dr. Renee Carlson. On hand to receive it was Dr. Kevin Walker, JVMA President. Also in attendance was Jamaica’s OIE Delegate Dr. Osbil Watson, Jamaica’s Chief Veterinary Officer. The win is even more fitting given that 2016 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the JVMA.

The JVMA won the award based on its activities related to this year’s theme ‘Continuing Education with a One Health Focus’. These activities took place over a period of time and a major highlight was collaboration with the One Health One Caribbean One Love project which is being implemented in the region by the University of the West Indies School of Veterinary Medicine and its partners PAHO/WHO, IICA, FAO, CIRAD and the Ministries of Agriculture of St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and Guyana, with funding from the European Union through the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States. This makes the win truly a Caribbean achievement.

“One Health” is the name given to the growing global movement in which a multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach, involving human and veterinary medical and environmental professionals is utilized in tackling health issues. Everything from the
impacts of climate change, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, food safety and security to comparative and translational medicine falls under the One Health umbrella.

JVMA President Dr. Kevin Walker (right) addresses the OIE assembly of Delegates after receiving the World Veterinary Day Award from WVA President Dr. Renee Carlson (2nd left) while Jamaica’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Osbil Watson (centre) holding Jamaica’s flag, OIE Director General Dr. Monique Eloit (left) and OIE Delegate Assembly President Botihe Modisane (2nd right) look on.

The JVMA’s application included the following:
Activities to mark World Veterinary Day 2016 and its theme:
 * Jamaica’s first One Health Symposium held on May 1, 2016 in collaboration with One Health One Caribbean One Love which drew over 120 attendees from the human and animal health, environmental and agricultural sectors.
 * A newspaper supplement, published in the Sunday Gleaner on May 1, 2016 which featured 20 pages of informative messages and articles related to the theme, supported by advertising
 * The world Veterinary Day JVMA Trophy Race at Caymanas Park on April 30, with the kind cooperation of Caymanas Track Ltd.
 * A television interview on CVM-TV’s morning programme “CVM at Sunrise”
Activities at other times over the past year:

One Health related seminars and presentations:
 * A Presentation on H1N1 influenza at the Association’s March 2016 General Meeting
 * Antimicrobial Resistance seminar, January 25, 2016
 * A Food Safety and Security technical session hosted by One Health One Caribbean One Love during the Jamaica module of its One Health Leadership Series held in Runaway Bay in June 2015.

The application featured a description of the One Health One Caribbean One Love project and its One Health Leadership Series as a regional effort to train professionals in One Health with a view to strengthening the implementation its practice region-wide. Some thirty-five professionals from the region, including four Jamaicans, are enrolled in the series.

In accepting the award, Dr. Walker paid tribute to the hard work put in by JVMA members in organising and carrying out the various activities, thanked One Health One Caribbean One Love for its work in the Caribbean and called for all to continue building bridges between all health and environmental professionals. (Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association Press Release)