Vets should use their scientific knowledge to fight COVID 19: Dr Praveen Malik

Pashu Sandesh, 24 April 2020

On the occasion of World Veterinary Day, Commissioner Animal Husbandry GOI, Dr Praveen Malik in a message through Pashu Sandesh has called upon the Veterinary Doctors to apply their scientific knowledge to help fight against the COVID 19 pandemic.

Here is the message of Dr Malik

“My dear fellow Veterinary Doctors,

On the occasion of World Veterinary Day, I extend my greetings to you and your families. Currently, India, like many other developed economies, is bearing the burden of a global pandemic caused by COVID 19 and the whole country is under lockdown. So far, we are successful in keeping a check on the virus spread through various plans and policies. In the present unfortunate time, there is an opportunity for the Veterinary Doctors not only to shoulder the responsibility of looking after the Animal Health but also to take the additional responsibility of fighting the virus along with fellow human doctors. The scientific knowledge possessed by you not only helps in finding the infection in the community through testing but can also help in understanding the virus in detail through research, thereby paving the way towards the development of a therapeutic or prophylactic approach to the most devastating pandemic in the past century. The potential has already been shown by numerous veterinary scientists from ICAR institutes at Bhopal, Hisar and Izatnagar as well as veterinary colleges at Nagpur, Ludhiana amongst others. The field veterinarians are providing equal support to the cause through their efforts with their human counterparts. We are hopeful that the combined efforts of both fraternities will yield positive results and we will overcome the difficult time very soon.

Zoonotic diseases have always posed a challenge to the human and present pandemic is another prime example. The pandemic in humans has also posed a grave challenge to the Animal Husbandry Sector and there is huge economic impact envisaged by the experts. The impact on the poultry sector has been highlighted to a great extent by many stakeholders. The government is attempting to the best possible to minimize the inevitable impact of the pandemic. After the pandemic, the responsibility of the vets would be increased manifold to minimize the impact, as quickly as possible, by adopting novel strategies and applying them with extra efforts in improving animal health and productivity. The potential of the sector is enormous which is to be realized by our meticulous planning and implementation.

The theme for World Veterinary Day 2020 is “Environmental protection for improving animal and human health”. It clearly outlines the importance of One Health and also the bearing environment has on the animal and human health. All these sectors are interrelated and cannot exist in isolation. Promoting sustainable animal husbandry while keeping in mind its environmental ramifications and relationship with human welfare is the need of the hour. 

I once again appreciate the excellent zeal, enthusiasm and dedication of my fellow vets for the profession and congratulate them on the occasion of WVD 2020. Come, let us hold each others’ hand and fight this global catastrophe together as a team.”