The World Veterinary Day (WVD) is globally celebrated each year and was first celebrated in the year 2000 by the World Veterinary Association (WVA). PULPA in collaboration with Vétérinaires sans Frontìeres Germany (VSFG) co-organized the commemoration of WVD to celebrate the hard work of frontline professionals in the worlds, Somalia and Puntland State in particular and their contributions to the health of animals, people, and the environment. This year’s theme of ‘’Veterinarians response to the Covid-19 crisis” clearly shows the importance of multidisciplinary and One Health Approach of emerging infectious diseases that are jumping from species to species.
The event was held on the 24th of April 2021 in Garowe, the capital city of Puntland State, Somalia. Government officials, including State Minister of Livestock, State Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Climate Change and the Deputy Minister of Interior, Federal Affairs and Demarcation, representatives from UN agencies (FAO and WHO), INGOs (VSFG, IRC, and ICRC) civil society organizations and veterinary professionals have attended the event.
“WVD2021 coincided with the challenging time of Covid-19 pandemics that extremely impacted lives, veterinarians in Puntland have been in the frontline for protecting livestock assets and creating awareness on Covid-19 for livestock farmers,” PULPA Deputy Chairman said in his briefing statement during the event and welcomed all participants to the meeting, thanked VSFG for the continuous support on improving pastoral livelihoods through quality animal health service delivery and further highlighted the importance of this event.
Dr. Ahmed Shire, the State Minister of Livestock & Animal Husbandry (MoLAH) in his official remarks thanked PULPA & VSFG for organizing this great event and highlighted the role played by vet professionals for delivering services to the pastoral communities in this difficult time of Covide-19 pandemics.
