29th Biennial Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association Conference, Georgetown, Guyana, 14-17 November 2016

Last update: 13 March 2017

The Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association is an Association of veterinarians primarily of the English speaking Caribbean countries stretching from Guyana on the South American mainland through the Caribbean archipelago around to Belize in Central America. As veterinary professionals of former British colonies, the first meetings were formal gatherings of government veterinarians. This finally envolved into a biennial meeting encompassing broad continuing education goals with an opportunity for all veterinarians of the region to share experiences, fellowship and fun.

As globalisation and internet technology make our world ever smaller and as the understanding of the absolute need for the One Health approach in tackling the challenges faced by all,  the realization that greater intra-regional and extra-regional cooperation is required in these times of global pandemics and epidemics makes it imperative that we foster every avenue of cooperation and dialogue. 

The Caribbean Veterinary Conference is held every two years, and hosted by different national veterinary associations each time.  The Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association holds a meeting in conjunction with the conference.  The theme of the 29th biennial conference was “New Horizons in Veterinary Medicine: Embracing One Health One Medicine for a Safer World”. 

The conference was attended by approximately 65 veterinarians from all over the Caribbean, from government, private veterinary clinics, NGOs and veterinary schools.

Alexandra Vokaty, Subregional Advisor on Veterinary Public at PAHO/WHO, Trinidad and Tobago and Chair of the CaribVET Veterinary Public Health Working Group ,  attended the conference. She presented 3 communications:

  • Dynamics of rabies in the Caribbean: regional study done by CAribVET VPH working group, rabies subgroup (led by Janine Seetahal)
  • Leptospirosis in the Caribbean: a One Health approach (the One Health guidelines for Lepto developed by the CaribVET VPH Working Group Lepto subgroup)
  • One Health in the Caribbean – highlighting various One Health initiatives in the Caribbean, including the “One Health, One Caribbean, One Love” project, Caribbean One Health policy and strategic plan, CaribVET VPH activities, AMR national action plans and One Health activities conducted by UWI, St. Georges University and Ross University.

Last update: 13 March 2017