Animals - Events
One Year To Celebrate The Veterinary Profession |
This year marks the 250th birthday of the veterinary profession. The European Commission’s Directorate General for Health and Consumer Policy (DG SANCO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) join forces to organise a series of events to celebrate the anniversary and highlight the diverse role of veterinarians across the world. Their partnership begins with the dissemination of six video clips promoting the profession to the public. |
During the World Veterinary Year 2011, veterinary institutions will organise national events to raise public awareness about the importance of their profession and as a reminder that veterinarians have been serving humankind for 250 years. On this occasion DG SANCO and the OIE have decided to join forces in order to highlight the wide and varied role vets play in our daily lives.
Bernard Van Goethem, acting Deputy Director General for the Food Chain, DG SANCO, said: “World Veterinary Year is an opportunity to underline the importance the European Commission attaches to the veterinary profession, and the contribution it makes to society: ensuring not just the confidence of consumers across Europe, but all over the world. Vets have been at the forefront of the response to animal health and food crises in Europe over the past 20 years, and it is only right that we acknowledge the key role that they play in protecting the food chain both today, and for future generations"
Six videos showing vets in your daily life
“Vets in Your Daily Life” is the motto of the joint activities. The first such activity is the creation of six videos showcasing the numerous roles of vets and their impact on people’s life. The videos focus on six major themes: animal husbandry, pets, crisis management, food security, food safety and zoonoses.
“The OIE considers veterinary services to be a global public good. These six videos demonstrate this to the general public in a very straight-forward way,” Maria Zampaglione, head of the OIE's Communication Unit, said.
Born in France, officially launched in France
The opening ceremony will take place on the 24th January in Versailles, in the country where the profession was born. The world’s first veterinary school was founded in Lyon, France, in 1761, under the impulsion of French veterinarian Claude Bourgelat.
Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli has been invited to give an opening speech at this event.
Events will include a symposia, conferences and session commemorating the birth of the veterinary profession. The full agenda is available on the website of vet2011.
| About DG SANCO: The Directorate General for Health & Consumers ensures that food and consumer goods sold in the EU are safe, that the EU's internal market works for the benefit of consumers, that Europe helps protect and improve its citizens' health and that the condition and the health status of animals in the Community is protected and raised. |
| About the Commission’s Vet activities: On the occasion of The World Veterinary Year of 2011, DG Health & Consumers is organizing a series of activities to highlight the role of “vets in your daily life’, the slogan for the joint activities of the EC & OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health). These will take place, amongst others, during the International Green Week in Berlin from 21st-30th January, the Salon International de l’Agriculture in Paris from 19th-27th February and the fourth edition of the EU Veterinary Week organised in partnership with the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) that will run from 16th May. |