(15.01.2017) WSAVA One Care Reports Success in Helping to Develop Companion Animal Veterinary Practice Globally
An initiative launched by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) to develop the companion animal veterinary profession is being extended.
During its first three years, the WSAVAs One Care project, which is supported by Hills Pet Nutrition, has focused on offering help to its member associations in Asian countries.
Based on its success in these countries, the WSAVA is now looking to extend One Care to members in other regions of the world.
The initiative helps to motivate veterinary associations in countries where companion animal practice is still emerging to raise standards of care, according to WSAVA Vice President and One Care leader Dr Siraya Chunekamrai.
The WSAVA is a global organisation which aims to enhance the quality of veterinary care for companion animals. Its members comprise 101 global veterinary associations and represent around 200,000 individual veterinarians.
While it champions the importance of global standards for veterinary care, it recognises that common standards may not be immediately achievable in all regions of the world. One Care was launched to encourage member associations to set realistic goals for improvement based on their own specific situation.
Veterinarians from a member association participating in One Care first agree a focus area for improvement and set a target at a workshop facilitated by the WSAVA. They then create a plan to achieve their goal. The WSAVA supports the delivery of the plan with a range of resources and support, often provided by sponsors.
Within the last 12 months, while focusing in Asia, One Care has achieved successes including:
- The development by the Veterinary Practitioners Association of Thailand (VPAT) of its own hospital standards
- The adoption by the Society of Companion Animal Practitioners of Sri Lanka (SCAP) of the Problem-Oriented Approach. This approach, developed by Professors Jill Maddison and David Church of the Royal Veterinary College, sets out a solid framework for internal medicine diagnosis
- The adoption by the Vietnamese Small Animal Veterinary Association (VSAVA) of standards for pain management and anaesthesia
- The development by the Philippines Animal Hospital Association (PAHA) of an animal welfare assessment framework. PAHA has become the country's leading advocate for animal welfare.
Dr Chunekamrai is currently planning a One Care initiative with the Cambodian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) which is keen to develop the profession in the country during 2017 with support from the WSAVA.
She commented: Setting standards for veterinary care in areas such as hospital practice, continuing education (CE) and animal welfare, is the most effective way to enhance the level of care provided to companion animals.
Our membership includes a huge diversity of language, social context and level of current practice so one size will not fit all. One Care works because it offers sustainable development driven by the local veterinary community and with a long- term development plan and measurable outcomes set out in the initial workshop.
Our experience shows that, where it has been adopted, One Care is helping veterinary communities to embrace standards and to take responsibility for meeting them and building on them appropriately.
"The success of the initiative in Asia means that we now developing plans for 2017. Our key goal is that it should be available to any of our members wishing to use it and, to help us achieve this, we are creating a training module to enable us to provide WSAVA One Care facilitators in each region of the world.
"We would like to thank Hill's Pet Nutrition, our most significant industry partner, for its generous support in establishing the One Care initiative and, in so doing, helping us to raise standards of veterinary care globally."