Por favor espere mientras carga su Bulletin

Newsletter INFORMACIÓN CONTINUACurrent state and future of small companion animal practice in Africa

INFORMACIÓN CONTINUA Publicado en 2021-08-24 10:38:30

Current state and future of small companion animal practice in Africa

Leer

Tamaño de fuente - A A A +

Authors: P. Bastiaensen1 & G. Varga2
(1) OIE (AFSCAN Board Member) Nairobi, Kenya; (2) ZOETIS (AFSCAN Board Chair), Brussels, Belgium

A selection of preliminary results of a continental survey in 2021

Developing private veterinary practices on a continent where most countries are low- to middle-income, with limited purchasing power (disposable income) and shifting attitudes to pet ownership is a challenge, especially outside of the very large and urbanised centres that host significant expatriate communities. In the run-up to the first African Small Companion Animal Congress, organised in June and July by the African Small Companion Animal Network (AFSCAN) a World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Foundation initiative, supported by the OIE, a continent-wide online survey was conducted on the current state and future of small companion animal practice in Africa. This article provides some preliminary insights into how private veterinarians running small companion animal surgeries in Africa are faring.

In the run-up to the first African Small Companion Animal Congress, organised by the African Small Companion Animal Network (AFSCAN) a World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Foundation initiative, supported by the OIE, a continent-wide online survey was conducted on the current state and future of small companion animal practice in Africa. The Congress took place from 29 June – 3 July 2021 and the survey was conducted from 2–21 June 2021 in three languages: English, French and Portuguese. The survey targeted a broad spectrum of professionals, from private practitioners to deans, lecturers, researchers and students at veterinary education establishments, representatives of veterinary statutory bodies and professional associations, as well as non-governmental/civil society organisations. The organisers of the survey received 120 submissions, most of them from the Republic of South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia, but overall from 30 African countries.

While the survey and response rate could have been improved, it does provide novel insight into a sector that has long been overlooked in the African veterinary landscape. The following results are based on the responses from private veterinary practitioners only, totalling 55 submissions. Also, the following section focuses on open questions regarding the challenges of running a private veterinary practice, clinic or surgery in Africa, rather than on quantitative information e.g. the level of equipment and services available in their facilities.

Based on the feedback provided by private veterinarians, challenges can be grouped into four broad categories, in order of decreasing frequency:

  1. Getting the money in  – Without a doubt the biggest challenges relate to finances and the economic model of small animal practice in developing and in-transition economies, characterised by low purchasing power of the public in general and pet owners in particular. There is a clear disconnect between what clients expect and what they can pay for, leading to many efforts being directed to debt servicing and recovering overdue bills. Many veterinarians warn of decreasing revenues because of decreasing numbers of clients or more pro-bono work done, less debt recovery and the increasing overhead costs of running a surgery.
  2. Time management  – Many veterinarians struggle with work-life balance, long working hours, difficulties attracting suitable veterinarians, veterinary nurses and locums, and personal work stress and stress of staff members, often generated by unruly, irrational or misbehaving (human) clients. Another challenge is the time spent on non-clinical tasks such as human resources, administration, billing, and stock keeping, where some colleagues recognise that they neglect these tasks, whereas others lament that they put in too many hours, to the detriment of the clinical work.
  3. Cost, reliability and proximity of services  – In small ‘niche’ markets such as the emerging small animal practice, it is still very challenging to secure (confirmatory) laboratory diagnostics and waiting times may be excessive, specific (novel) drugs may not be registered for use in the country and are either procured at excessive cost or imported directly from abroad; the same applies to the latest technologies and equipment, for which local suppliers (and maintenance and calibration services) are missing.
  4. Unfair competition  – Unfair competition is mentioned in relation to some non-governmental organisations, such as animal welfare charities, who provide certain services free of charge (spaying, castration). In addition, concerns in French-speaking countries (except for Madagascar, mostly situated in West and Central Africa) are the scourge of fake or ‘barefoot’ veterinarians, and the related problems of the circulation of counterfeit drugs, illicit sales of drugs by unqualified vendors and the tradition of self-medicating before seeking professional help.

 
When asked how they see the future of their profession in the African context, most private veterinary practitioners seem optimistic, with 91% of them agreeing that ‘the future is bright’. Indeed, two out of three respondents (66%) reported an increase in pets as part of total animal numbers and revenue since the practice/surgery was established, while 14% saw no difference and 19% lamented a reduction in numbers and revenue.

One of the panel discussions during the Congress being the mental health of veterinarians in Africa, a final question was included referring to the emerging suicide rates of veterinary practitioners in many parts of the world (addressed by the Not One More Vet campaign, among others):

Irregular hours, high work pressure, client expectations and loneliness are major contributors to mental health disorders among private veterinary practitioners and higher-than-average suicide rates. From my perspective, I can relate to this.

Overall, 8 out of 10 private veterinary practitioners stated that they could relate to this statement (or that on average, private veterinary practitioners relate ‘somewhat’ to this statement).

Even with all of its shortcomings and a weak response rate, this survey provides – probably for the first time – a birds-eye view of the sector, with interesting insights (and diversity between regions) into an emerging private veterinary corpus, currently primarily in urban areas, but in the near future undoubtedly also in provinces and districts of Africa.

 

 

Ethiopian veterinarian Netsanet Sitotaw provides rabies vaccinations in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Photo credit: ILRI/Mekdes Zenebe

Información relacionada al artículo

  • 26min

    Advancing Community Animal Health Workers

  • 38min

    A New WOAH Director General with a Clear and Ambitious Vision

  • 155min

    A Word from our New Reference Centres

  • 33min

    WOAH’s First Transregional Gender Kiosk Promotes Inclusion

  • 38min

    Updating International Standards for Equine Encephalitides

  • 26min

    Engaging Minds: Veterinarian and Public Health Laboratory Experts from the Mediterranean Team Up in the ALERT Game

  • 16min

    ‘Songyue’: Koi Carp Artwork Gifted to WOAH’s Aquatic Commission

  • 26min

    WOAH Celebrates its Centenary by Promoting its Archives

  • 18min

    Global Launch of the PVS Pathway Information System

  • 13min

    Progress Report on the External Review of WOAH's Basic Texts

  • 13min

    Introducing the Disease Status Management Platform

  • 6min

    Launching the Scientific Watch Bulletin on Rabies

  • 10min

    Upcoming Aquaculture Training Course

  • 38min

    On WOAH's Specialist Commissions

  • 16min

    Never Let a Foresight Scenario Go to Waste

  • 26min

    Advancing the WOAH Strategy Against Antimicrobial Resistance

  • 19min

    Members Experience the PVS Information System for the First Time

  • 22min

    Guidelines for Community Animal Health Workers

  • 8min

    Barriers and Solutions to Mass Dog Vaccination for Rabies

  • 20min

    Private Sector Collaboration for Animal Health and Welfare Standards

  • 16min

    PVS Information System Hits Key Training Milestone on Path to Global Launch

  • 30min

    Exploring Changes: Crafting Compelling Future Stories

  • 7min

    OFFLU-AIM Project Facilitates Effective Avian Influenza Vaccination Programmes

  • 17min

    Engagement, Collaboration, Cooperation and Transparency to Protect Animal Health Worldwide

  • 19min

    One Health Collaboration, Sustainability of Veterinary Services and Regional Investment

  • 15min

    Launch of the 100th Anniversary Participatory Foresight Project!

  • 28min

    The STAR-IDAZ Research Community Grows

  • 1min

    Anuncio de la Directora General de la OMSA

  • 18min

    The Performance of Veterinary Services Information System Enters its Next Phase of Development

  • 8min

    Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Surveillance Guidelines: Now Available Online

  • 5min

    Homenaje a la Dra. Christianne Bruschke

  • 45min

    Identifying Priorities Related to Gender in the Animal Health Sector

  • 22min

    Number of Women Veterinarians in South-East Asia Continues to Grow

  • 17min

    We Asked and They Shared: WOAH’s Resource Partners on Working with WOAH

  • 45min

    A Word from Our New Reference Centres

  • 34min

    How is the Future Going? Monitoring Future Scenarios in Animal Health

  • 7min

    UNESCO's Futures Literacy Laboratory Playbook Highlights WOAH

  • 12min

    Easier Access to Previous Editions of WOAH Codes

  • 42min

    Immersing WOAH’s New Delegates in their Roles

  • 9min

    Self-Declarations: Improved Templates and Data Presentation

  • 18min

    Thinking About the Futures of Emergency Management

  • 25min

    Embracing Uncertainty - Using Strategic Foresight Methods to Support Decision-Making

  • 16min

    The Power of Public-Private Partnerships – an Australian Example

  • 30min

    First Oral Rabies Vaccine for Dogs

  • 7min

    China Establishes an Equine Disease Free Zone for the Upcoming 19th Asian Games

  • 11min

    Animal Health and the Transformation of Food Systems

  • 17min

    A Record Year in Review for the WOAH World Fund

  • 15min

    The Futures of Climate Responses, 2040

  • 22min

    Exploring the Futures of Collaboration, Partnerships and Multilateralism

  • 15min

    A Risk-Based Insurance Model for Transboundary Animal Diseases

  • 20min

    A Multi-Agency Simulation Exercise: Building Biological Threat Reduction Capacities

  • 14min

    Tracking Antimicrobial Resistance Control on a Global Scale Through Country Self-Assessment Surveys—TrACSS

  • 10min

    New access point to previous editions of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code

  • 23min

    Nature for Health Trust Fund Seeks Country Partners

  • 13min

    Multidisciplinary Project Examines Australia’s One Health Pandemic Governance

  • 24min

    Entender y definir mejor el papel de los promotores pecuarios como parte del fortalecimiento de los Servicios Veterinarios de primera línea

  • 31min

    What is the Observatory?

  • 47min

    Destination 2040 - there and back through the OIE Futures Literacy Laboratory

  • 17min

    The OIE holds its 16th annual World Fund Advisory Committee Meeting

  • 11min

    The World Organisation for Animal Health launches a database on public—private partnerships in the veterinary domain

  • 20min

    Competent and well-equipped Veterinary Services in support of national health systems: the OIE contribution

  • 24min

    Exploring how futures are imagined and used: unleashing the potential of Foresight and Futures Literacy

  • 10min

    OIE Tool for the Evaluation of Performance of Aquatic Animal Health Services (PVS Tool - Aquatic), 2nd edition

  • 6min

    New suppliers selected for the OIE Rabies Vaccine Bank

  • 9min

    New suppliers selected for the OIE PPR Vaccine Bank

  • 13min

    Lessons learnt series on veterinary paraprofessionals

  • 14min

    Keeping our institutional meetings despite the virtual environment

  • 13min

    Electronic sanitary certificates for safe international trade in animals and animal products

  • 6min

    Discover the new OIE Documentary Portal

  • 12min

    Moving forward on the Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs) Programme

  • 28min

    Virtual interviews as an alternative to field missions? Lessons learnt from a pilot experience

  • 29min

    Enhancing veterinary laboratory capacity in COVID-19’s wake through the first-ever virtual OIE PVS mission

  • 14min

    The third OIE Animal Welfare Global Forum

  • 26min

    Current state and future of small companion animal practice in Africa

  • 24min

    The OIE World Fund: 2020 financial performance

  • 15min

    A Standard Operating Procedure to improve notification of emerging diseases of terrestrial animals

  • 15min

    The OIE Aquatic Animals Commission furthers aquatic animal health globally and delivers substantial achievements during its last term

  • 23min

    The digital archive of the OIE Bulletin from 1927 to 1982 is now available on the Documentary Portal

  • 23min

    Global report indicates decreasing trend in antimicrobials intended for use in the animal sector

  • 35min

    How disease control and animal health services can impact antimicrobial resistance. A retrospective country case study of Sweden

  • 34min

    Reflections on the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Epidemic of 2001: a United Kingdom Perspective

  • 46min

    Reflections on the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Epidemic of 2001: an Irish Perspective

  • 7min

    Safe Trade and FMD Control Training Course

  • 15min

    STAR-IDAZ International Research Consortium on Animal Health Releases a State-of-the-Art Report on Priority Animal Diseases

  • 17min

    OIE PVS Pathway missions go virtual!

  • 31min

    100-year anniversary of the origin of the OIE at the 1921 Paris International Conference

  • 23min

    First workshop of the OIE Twinning Network on Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers in West and Central Africa

  • 14min

    Taking a closer look at the 15th OIE World Fund Advisory Committee Meeting

  • 13min

    The OIE and the University of Liverpool host the launch of the Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs) Programme

  • 13min

    Global leaders meet to elevate sustainable political support for antimicrobial resistance issue

  • 24min

    News from the OIE Laboratory Twinning Programme

  • 49min

    Veterinary workforce development: the relevance of skill qualification, education and occupational frameworks

  • 12min

    Assessing the risks of zoonotic diseases under the One Health approach: a new tripartite operational tool

  • 4min

    G20 statement

  • 112min

    Overcoming the impact of COVID-19 on animal welfare:
    COVID-19 Thematic Platform on Animal Welfare

  • 34min

    Twinning is winning

  • 42min

    Global Burden of Animal Diseases – building a community of practice for animal health economics

  • 7min

    Identifying and testing suitable and safe aircraft disinfectants for use on cargo planes that transport animals

  • 7min

    Los Directores Generales de la FAO y la OIE intercambian sus impresiones sobre la colaboración entre las dos organizaciones

  • 15min

    Applying Big Data solutions to One Health challenges in the Mediterranean region

  • 8min

    Namibia’s demonstration of freedom from bovine tuberculosis

  • 10min

    Triage in the trenches, for the love of animals

  • 21min

    Global Strategic Plan to end human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030

  • 22min

    OIE rabies international standards: towards ‘Zero by 30’

  • 19min

    The OIE Rabies Vaccine Bank: a possible tool for outbreak response

  • 8min

    Epidemiological survey of bovine viral diarrhoea in dairy cattle in Nepal

  • 3min

    LSD: a new challenge to the Veterinary Services of Central Asian countries

  • 15min

    Improving sustainability to avoid laboratory disasters

  • 2min

    On the frontlines of rabies eradication