The Importance of Veterinary Medicine

 

The Importance of Veterinary Medicine
Gracelynne Victoria Irawan

         (Rudolf Virchow, 1821–1902) “Between animal and human medicine there is no dividing line—nor should there be. The object is different, but the experience obtained constitutes the basis of all medicine.” Veterinarians are the only doctors educated to protect and act as a bridge to both animals and people in our world. They address the health and welfare of every animal species and are fundamental roles in environmental protection, research, food safety, public health, and many more. Protecting the health of animals and society. They are needed as much as doctors who specialize health towards people in the present or future time.

 

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/how-to-apply-to-veterinary-school-and-become-a-veterinarian

            All animal species and Homo sapiens are related to the knowledge gained by one species to connect and benefit all which leads to the concept of “One Medicine”. It defines human and animal health to emphasize the interconnectedness, relationships and transferability of the knowledge needed in solving health problems in all species. All veterinary activities affect human health either directly biomedically, research, public health or indirectly by addressing domestic animals, wildlife, and environmental health. More importantly, veterinary scientists hold the responsibility of protecting both human and animal health and welfare by ensuring food security and safety, preventing and controlling emerging infectious zoonoses, protecting environment and ecosystems, assisting in bioterrorism and agroterrorism preparedness, advancing treatments and controls for nonzoonotic diseases (such as vaccine-preventable illnesses and chronic diseases), contributing to public health, and engaging in medical research (Pappaioanou, 2004). These tasks contribute to our understanding of all medicine or the One Medicine concept. Veterinary research is as fundamental as human health activity, unfortunately the centrality of veterinary research and its critical role at the interface between human and animal health are often not understood and undervalued in society.

           

            As humans, we require food intake daily to survive and continue living. Food is a crucial resource for us, but what if the food we consume brings us to our deaths instead? Therefore, food safety is mandatory for the sake of the public health. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has stated that animal health practices are necessary for the sustainability of livestock and their food production. Animal products do not solely serve as a source of high-quality food, but they are also the source of income for many farmers, animal holders and traders in a variety of countries. Veterinarians play a key role for farmers in ensuring the farm animals are healthy, kept in hygienic conditions and under good sanitary for consumption. They survey, detect, prevent, and treat the diseases in animals to minimise pathogens entering our food chain. Although they are veterinarians, their services must ensure the responsibility of their medical products, as these drug residues may enter our food and animal of origin. If said drug residue or disease outbreaks were found in food safety incidents, the traceability of the animals and animal products throughout the food production is crucial. (OIE, World Organization for Animal Health) “Good quality of water, animal feedstuffs, and farming practices must be strictly controlled to ensure food safety. Improving animal health is equal to improving our food safety.” The dangers that may befall globally if veterinarians do not play a crucial role in food safety gives rise to zoonoses. Currently, we are facing a global pandemic because of the coronavirus (covid-19). Chinese scientists suggested that the ant-eating pangolin was the prime suspect of the virus’ origins. Though, pin-pointing the exact origins of the virus remains a mystery. Just like the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) which is thought to spread to humans from civets back in 2002.

           

            (Drh. Muhhamad Munawaroh, 2020) "Indonesia itu kalau benar-benar sesuai dengan jumlah penduduknya butuhnya hampir 70 ribu dokter hewan. Sekarang yang ada baru 20 ribuan.” Indonesia needs approximately 70.000 veterinarians and now we only have 20.000. Whereas there are approximately 168.000 doctors in Indonesia (2019) and yet we are still ranked the lowest in the world for having the least number of doctors. If those numbers are the lowest in the world, what about our national veterinarians? Here we face the toxicity if we don’t become doctors, we’re treated like failures and if we enter vet school, we’re compared to human doctors and ostracized for not following society’s job standard. If we truly stand by the “One Medicine” concept, why are our nation’s health frontline so divided? Our roles are different, but our goals are the same, why are these college health tuition fees immensely expensive where we are thrown into student debt while we work to our daily routine too? Has SARS or Covid-19 taught us nothing? According to BBC, Indonesia has lost 2.000 health workers because of covid, ranking us as the highest health worker death rate in Asia and the third globally. We have lost too many doctoral lives during this pandemic and people still have the audacity to say that the virus doesn’t exist. If our doctors are all dead, the public community comes next, and we’ll be a dead country in no time if people still take veterinarians and human doctors so lightly.

           

            To summarize, veterinarians play a vital role to public health by keeping our animals in check for our food safety, prevent possible zoonosis outbreaks which could lead to pandemics and collaborative teamwork with human doctors. We are in dire need of more frontline health workers for the sake of the public health, unfortunately in exchange of high tuition fee and mental pressure from public voices. So, have you opened your eyes to the importance of veterinary medicine?             

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