Dr. Bernard Vallat, Director General of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), presented the organization’s 2012 priorities at its annual New Year’s Greetings. He cited the increased use of antibiotics in human and animal medicine as a hurdle for treatment sick humans and animals. The group recommends against non-prudent medicine use, and counterfeit products. They also call for “reinforcement of good governance of Veterinary Services for the better control in registration, import, distribution, and on-farm use of antimicrobials”. Vallat also stressed that international coordination of surveillance and monitoring programs and risk assessment are crucial to controlling animal diseases.
The OIE is an organization based Paris, France, founded in 1924 and is comprised of 178 member countries. They support over 265 disease reference labs across the world and manage a world-wide animal health surveillance system. More information on the OIE can be found in their press release brochure.
