OIE, Africa Veterinary Technicians Association and GALVmed hosted the first continental Africa veterinary para-professional conference from 13-15th October 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa.

Para-professional veterinarians (PPV) are those who are authorised by the veterinary statutory body and who are authorised to carry out certain designated tasks that are delegated to them under the direction/responsibility of a veterinarian.  With the shortage of qualified veterinary surgeons, the size of rural areas, nomadic production systems and lack of supervision, the importance of PPV and how they operate is particularly relevant to Africa.

The conference aims to improve the quality of field work conducted in Africa by strengthening the links and collaboration between veterinarians and veterinary para-professionals.

A select number of representatives attended from the national association/federation of para-professional veterinarians, the veterinary authority and/or the veterinary statutory body from the 22 African countries that are members of the African Veterinary Technicians Association.

The conference is co-funded by the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, GALVmed (through their funders the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) and the OIE World Animal Health and Welfare Fund, using grants from the European Commission, in the framework of the Strengthening Veterinary Governance in Africa project.