Veterinary Students of the World Within One Health: Projects and Reach of the IVSA Standing Committee on One Health (SCOH)

Afedo, S., Krones, S. and Liatis, T. (2014) Veterinary Students of the World Within One Health: Projects and Reach of the IVSA Standing Committee on One Health (SCOH). International Symposium for One Health Research (ISOHR) 2014, Guangzhou, China, 23-24 Nov 2014. (doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3844.0080)

Abstract

International Veterinary Students’ Association (IVSA) is the biggest veterinary students’ association worldwide, founded in the 1950’s in Europe. Its Standing Committee on One Health (SCOH) was formed in August 2013 in the Netherlands to promote the interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as educate and inform veterinary students on the concept and importance of One Health. SCOH established a Local Veterinary Public Health Network which aims to urge the member organizations (MO’s) of IVSA to add to their boards a position relating to Public/One Health. Consequently, every member organization (MO) have a representative who will carry out global one health projects of the committee or will invent new ones locally. So far, 23 out of the 60 active MO’s have embraced the idea, and represent 19 countries. So far, the committee organized 2 global Awareness Campaigns; “IVSA Campaign at World Rabies Day 2013” and “IVSA Stop TB Campaign 2014”. At the first campaign, dogs’ vaccination, lectures, street actions and school visits were organized in order to make people aware about the hazards of Rabies. A second campaign, similar to the awareness events were organized with the major goal of informing people and farmers about Bovine TB; Moreover, the committee turned to more practical methods by organizing two One Health Workshops. The first was a “Stimulation Game” held in Karditsa (Greece) within the 2nd Hellenic Veterinary Students’ Congress 2014 (30 people attended), while the second was a “One Health management at a local level” seminar held in Yogyakarta (Indonesia) during the 63rd IVSA World Congress (13 people attended). The evaluation of these workshops concluded that the majority of veterinary students liked both the knowledge game and the tips provided for local management of one health filed at the local MOs. Also, another trend that people endorsed is the Interdisciplinary Collaborations within One Health. Looking at a survey the committee did, 100% of the students evaluated (35) were in favor of these collaborations below. Firstly, IVSA for the first time ever will participate in the upcoming World Healthcare Students’ Symposium (WHSS) 2015 which is organized by medical, veterinary, dental, pharmaceutical, and physical therapy students throughout the world. In addition to this, IVSA signed a formal MoU with the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), as well as started to collaborate with the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF). Finally, the highest achievement so far is the Global One Health Challenge, a joint project of IVSA, IFMSA and Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC). This is a worldwide contest dedicated to World Rabies Day 2014 and Rabies awareness, which calls IFMSA and IVSA MOs to collaborate and make an event for rabies. However, this project is still in progress. In conclusion, IVSA through SCOH is promoting Public Health by creating awareness about the need to fight zoonosis and making the concept of One Health (the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines to obtain optimal health for people, animals, and our environment ) more popular.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Additional Information: Poster Presentation.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Liatis, Dr Theophanes
• Authors: Afedo, S., Krones, S., and Liatis, T.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine