Stakeholders converged on Abuja on Wednesday to brainstorm on ways to address zoonotic diseases to ensure animal and human health in West and Central Africa.
They spoke with one voice at an In-Service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology training (ISAVET) programme organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, said the programme was apt especially its ability to ensure food security and public health.
The minister who was represented by Dr Musa Inuwa said ISAVET aligns with the goals to ensure animal health and to strengthen food security.
Abdullahi commended FAO for the initiative taken to train veterinarians to investigate animals and protect public health.
The minister also commended stakeholders in the livestock sector on their curtailment of anthrax outbreak in Nigeria.
The Country Representative of FAO in Nigeria, Mr Dominique Kouacou said that the regional meeting has given the organisation a good opportunity to improve veterinary services throughout West and Central Africa.
Kouacou who was represented by Mr Tofiq Braimah, Operations Specialist noted that the ISAVET programme has done a lot in the veterinary field in recent years.
The President, Nigeria Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Dr Moses Arokoyo, said that the programme would take care of zoonotic diseases and he gave assurance of his association’s support to the programme.
Arokoyo added that the programme would achieve beyond food security, saying that ISAVET programme would save the lives of animals and human health would be improved in Africa.
The President, Veterinary Council of Nigeria, Dr Aishatu Abubakar-Baju said that the programme would regulate the trainings of veterinarians for them to maintain a standard in their practice.
Abubakar-Baju urged stakeholders to come up with sustainability plans for the programme adding that the council expects regional collaboration to tackle the menace confronting animals.
NAN
