Veterinary medicinal
products and vaccines: indispensable tools for any effective animal
health and welfare policy
Appropriate prevention and control of animal diseases
depends first of all upon policies of good veterinary governance. These
policies must be underpinned by legislation inspired
by OIE standards but they must also be backed up the necessary resources
for its enforcement, in particular by the Veterinary
Services supported by their public and private sector components working
together in a clearly defined partnership. Among the
many aspects of this partnership, one of the most important concerns
conditions governing the use of veterinary products by
private veterinarians and other animal health stakeholders. It should
be remembered that the control of threats to the
health and welfare of animals such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and
other
pathogens cannot be achieved without the judicious use
of drugs, vaccines and other veterinary products that act upon the
health of animals, regardless of whether they are
farmed, used for recreational purposes or kept as companion animals.
However, these important factors of health are not
innocuous products. It is acknowledged worldwide that their use must be
strictly supervised, for in the absence of public
sector controls, the risks associated with their imprudent use may far
exceed
any potential benefit.
The control of veterinary products begins with legally
adopted definitions of the various products used (vaccines,
antibiotics,
disinfectants, vitamins, antiparasitics, etc.) and the
regulations governing their importation, or indeed their manufacture
if they are produced within the country. This is why
veterinary products have to be officially registered before they can
receive marketing approval. To this end, the OIE works
closely with VICH, which is the only international body that adopts
and issues guidelines on technical requirements
relating to the registration of veterinary medicinal products. As soon
as
VICH guidelines have gained sufficient recognition by
the international community, the OIE will in turn submit them to its
Members for adoption as OIE standards. In the
meantime, as a sign of OIE/VICH cooperation, the VICH General Assembly
and the
4 th VICH Global Conference will be held at the OIE
Headquarters in Paris in June 2010.
Moreover, the OIE is already involved in the
preparation of standards on diagnostic assays and their official
validation,
as well as on conditions governing the production of
high quality veterinary vaccines. These standards are published in the
OIE Terrestrial Manual and Aquatic Manual and updated
annually by the World Assembly of national Delegates to the OIE. In
addition to national or regional registration of
veterinary products, the conditions governing their distribution and use
are also key factors in limiting the risks associated
with their inappropriate use. The conditions governing the prudent use
of antibiotics and certain antiparasitics are
therefore one of the priority factors of the control procedures that
need to
be implemented. All these control procedures may
differ widely from one country to another, but the OIE wishes to draw
its
Members’ attention to the following recommendations:
the higher the level of risk that a product poses to animal health or
public health, the greater the need to ensure that its
users’ professional qualifications are appropriate and their initial
and continuing training suitably adapted so as to
minimise this risk; the presence of a national veterinary network
enabling
surveillance of animal populations in all countries
throughout their territory must be guaranteed by all governments to
effectively
detect and control diseases as soon as they occur, and
in so doing prevent biological disasters. The revenue that private
veterinarians receive from supplying products,
especially in remote or inhospitable areas, provides them with an
indispensable
supplementary income, thereby helping to maintain the
nationwide veterinary network needed in all countries of the world;
lastly, the OIE places strong emphasis on the
importance of keeping national legislation on veterinary products up to
date.
The Global Conference on Veterinary Legislation, due
to take place in Tunis from 7 to 9 December 2010, will include detailed
coverage of legislative issues relating to veterinary
products.
The OIE has also recommended that each of its Members
appoint a focal point to be responsible at the national level for
relations
with the OIE in the field of veterinary products. The
OIE regularly invites these officials throughout the world to take part
in training programmes to help them, with the support
of its Collaborating Centres such as the one in Fougères (France), to
obtain the appropriate international and technical
information. The focal points of the 175 OIE Members thus form a
worldwide
network of experts that can help to bring about the
harmonisation of policies in the field of veterinary products with the
aim of improving national animal health policies.
It is now clear just how great an impact actions to
promote animal health can have in helping to improve food security and
food safety, reduce poverty and increase access to
lucrative markets for animals and animal products. Yet, in most cases,
actions in favour of animal health depend on the
availability and appropriate use of good quality veterinary products. It
is also clear that the irresponsible use of veterinary
products can have harmful consequences, not only for animal health
but also for public health. That is why the Codex
Alimentarius and its parent organisations, FAO and WHO, are key partners
of the OIE in the field of recommendations for
veterinarians and livestock producers, and in particular on conditions
governing
the use of veterinary products in animals for human
consumption, risk analysis of residues of veterinary drugs in food
products
derived from animals and methods for the analysis of
these residues. All actions relating to these fields must be a constant
concern on the part of the Veterinary Services of all
countries of the world, with the permanent support of the OIE, which
considers all these issues as one of its priorities.
Source: Bernard Vallat