Tbilisi: The World Veterinary Day, by the initiative of the World Veterinary Association and the Global Alliance for Animal Health, is celebrated every year on the last Saturday of April and aims to promote the profession. This year’s message is: “Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the veterinary profession.”
With the support of the National Food Agency and the USDA-SQIL “Investing in Safe and Quality Veterinary” project, the conference was held on the occasion of World Veterinary Day. The Participants discussed the current situation and challenges in the field.
The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of the Environment and Agriculture, the Parliamentary Committee on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, the Committee on Agricultural Affairs, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Revenue Service, higher education, non-governmental sector, international organizations, trade associations, and veterinary students.
Deputy Minister of agriculture, Kakha Kakabadze addressed the participants with a welcome speech.
“Congratulations to vets on their professional day. The profession of veterinary has a special importance in the development of agriculture. They contribute, through their day-to-day activities, to ensure the country’s epic welfare. Veterinarians of the National Food Agency carry out extensive work every year to ensure that the food on the market is safe and competitive”, said Kakha Kakabadze.
The conference was attended by Maia Bitadze, chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, who focused on the role of qualified veterinarians in the process of expected reforms.
“Right now the Georgian Parliament is working on a domestic animal bill, which envisages in the future in each region, in each municipality, to create shelters and each of them to have a qualified veterinarian.” Therefore, the merit of people who have been developing and working in this field for years is very great and I hope that in the future this profession will be valued even more in parallel with the reforms that the state is implementing”, – said Maia Bitadze.
“The Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, and the National Food Agency join forces in celebrating this day with other countries of the world.” Our task is to promote the development of the field and the promotion of the profession,” said the head of the National Food Agency, Zurab Chekurashvili.
“The work of veterinarians in Georgia and in the whole world is most important in terms of safe food production of animal origin.” The USDA-SQIL project is successfully working with the National Food Agency to “repeat the role of veterinarians in animal and human health,” said USDA-SqIL Project Director Alex Samel.
The USDA-SQIL project is implemented by the American organization Land O’Lakes Venture37, in partnership with the Georgian Farmers Association, with financial support from the American Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Budimir Plavchich, the Regional Representative of the World Animal Health Organization Europe, congratulated Georgian veterinarians on their professional day online.
A panel discussion was held in a working format on the topic: “The role of veterinary in ensuring epidemiotic reliability in the country and development of the agricultural sector”, “Veterinary activities in different spheres”. Veterinarians’ awards in different nominations were held.
