The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnership of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Olanike Kudirat Adeyemo, has declared that Veterinary Medicine is indispensable to addressing the challenges being faced by the world in the 21st century.
The professor of Veterinary Public Health and Fellow, The World Academy of Science, stated this at the continuing education programme held at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the university, which was organized by the Veterinary Council of Nigeria, in collaboration with the University of Ibadan, yesterday, Monday, October 24, 2022.
Speaking at the event, the don said, “Veterinary medicine has an increasingly important role to play in addressing the global challenges of the 21st century based on our societal contributions to Animal Welfare, Biomedical Research, Animal Health, Production, and Conservation of Species, as well as Safeguarding the Health of Humans.”
Highlighting the challenges of the profession, she explained that many people do not know the enormity of the importance of the field to humanity.
“Worldwide the profession is facing challenges in maintaining the economic sustainability of veterinary education and practice, evolving veterinary service to meet changing societal needs; in addition, the populace, policymakers, and even medical professionals are frequently unaware of how veterinary medicine fundamentally supports both animal and human health.”
She further called on experts in the Veterinary Sciences to ably represent the discipline and make people around fully understand what the discipline represents.
“It is therefore important to broaden the public's understanding and attempts to anticipate some of the needs and measures that are essential for the profession to fulfill, given its changing roles in the 21st century. This education must of a necessity start from within, to ensure that we are able to adequately represent the Veterinary Profession within our spheres of influence. There are real risks to the profession, if we fail to adapt, to meet future challenges,” she said.
In her opening remarks, the Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the university and first professor of Veterinary Biochemistry in Africa, Prof. Eunice Olufunke Ola-Davies, who also hosted the event, explained that time has come for veterinary health professionals to fully appropriate the abounding opportunities available to them.
Several researchers, scholars and stakeholders in the industry were in attendance and made their voices heard.