Dr Andrés Perez is the first Latin American to receive the Peter Ellis Award for his contribution to veterinary epidemiology in developing countries, awarded by the International Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics in Sydney, Australia, in 2024.
In the framework of World Veterinary Day, we spoke with Dr Andrés Perez, Director of WOAH’s Collaborating Centre for Veterinary Services Capacity Building. In this interview, Dr Perez shares how this year’s theme – ‘Animal health requires a team’ – is reflected in the work they are doing in collaboration with countries of the Americas.
The main mandate of our Collaborating Centre is to support the development of advanced competencies, or ‘day 2’ competencies, as defined by WOAH. These competencies represent everything that a professional from the Veterinary Services should be able to do while performing his/her duties. However, there is often a gap between the skills required in the field and the training received at university. Our role is precisely to bridge this gap through specific training for members of the Veterinary Service – both in the public and private sector – focusing on key areas.
We cover topics such as risk analysis, the implementation of control zones for disease outbreaks, and the design of regionalisation programmes.
In recent years, we have started to place special emphasis on an aspect that is often overlooked: the mental health of veterinary professionals. Veterinary professionals often work under high-pressure conditions, especially during outbreaks or health emergencies, often with limited resources. They are sometimes faced with extremely difficult decisions, such as having to cull entire populations of animals to contain a disease, which represents a huge emotional burden. We seek to prepare Veterinary Services to have the resources to respond to such stressful situations.
More than 400 professionals from all over the world participated in the trainings led by WOAH’s Collaborating Centre.
Joint work between institutions and disciplines is fundamental. Each sector has a specific role to play and understanding these roles is key to effective collaboration. In the field of animal health, the private sector is mainly involved in the production of animal products, while the public sector is responsible for ensuring that this production complies with health regulations. Academia plays a crucial role in generating scientific knowledge and contributing to capacity building in both the public and private sectors.
These three sectors – public, private and academic – often carry out their work in an isolated way, and yet they complement and strengthen each other to achieve a common goal, which is animal health.
Moreover, strengthening Veterinary Services requires not only technical knowledge, but also social skills. The ability to lead, work as part of a team, show empathy and manage group dynamics is essential. These competencies are often interdisciplinary and necessary for the proper functioning of Veterinary Services.
Training programmes are developed in response to requests from the heads of national Veterinary Services based on the needs identified. The results of PVS evaluations are analysed, with the agreement of the countries, to provide tailored solutions. ©WOAH/A.Cipriani Schwengber
A concrete example was in Paraguay, where we coordinated a training in passive surveillance systems for vesicular diseases. This training not only improved the implementation of the system but also served as a key tool in negotiations with trading partners, facilitating access to new markets.
In the Caribbean, we worked with the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to implement a programme to accredit veterinarians in the management and control of African swine fever. From this initiative, an official certificate was created that enabled the Veterinary Service to empower trained veterinarians to perform specific roles in the response to the disease.
These are just a few examples of how the Collaborating Centre supports Veterinary Services in the region, responding to their specific training needs and strengthening their capacities in a sustainable way.
Veterinary Services in the region face technical as well as political and economic challenges. In our role, we focus especially on the technical challenges.
One of the main challenges is the high operational demands placed on the veterinary workforce. Many professionals are overwhelmed with essential day-to-day tasks, leaving them little room to participate in continuous training or to incorporate new knowledge.
Another challenge is the operational structure of Veterinary Services, which is often very compliance oriented. This leaves little room to assess how those regulations are being implemented and whether there is room for improvement. For example, an officer in a local office may spend most of his or her time on field verification tasks, gathering valuable information on the barriers farmers face in complying with regulations. However, the context for channeling this information into proposals for improvement rarely exists.
In addition, disease control plans are often implemented under very rigid schemes. This makes it difficult to build consensus with the private sector, which is key to a more collaborative and sustainable approach. Regulations need to become more dynamic in order to better respond to the real challenges of animal health in our region.
A key competency is a comprehensive understanding of risk and its complexity. Biosecurity programmes, for example, often try to cover too much, which makes implementation difficult. It is more effective to focus on country-specific risks, reducing them gradually and working closely with the private sector.
While there are successes in controlling diseases such as foot and mouth disease, others such as brucellosis and tuberculosis still present challenges. In summary, Veterinary Services must continue to improve their understanding and management of risk, adapting their strategies to local needs.
What are the Collaborating Centre’s priorities in the coming years to further promote resilient Veterinary Services in the Americas?
We have developed trainings for more than 50 countries globally and, in the coming years, our priority will be to deepen training in the Americas, further adapting it to local needs in coordination with regional partners. In addition, we see a great opportunity to foster south-south collaboration by learning from other countries’ experiences in disease management. For example, we can learn from efforts in Asia to control African swine fever, while our region can also share its experience in diseases we have already controlled. As a Collaborating Centre, these will be our priorities: consolidating regional training and promoting south-south cooperation with Africa and Asia.
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