February 13, 2008

USDA urged to implement program to secure veterinarians
 

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has urged the USDA to implement a program that would address a serious lack of veterinarians in the country.

Gregory S. Hammer, president of the AVMA, testified that delaying the implementation of the National Veterinary Medical Service Act puts US food safety at risk. He said with each day the program remains non-functional, the problems that the Act addresses would worsen, which would eventually lead to a crisis.

President George Bush signed the Act into law in 2003. It is a loan repayment programme for veterinarians who practise in a variety of under-served areas of veterinarian medicine, including food supply veterinary medicine.

Hammer said with the average veterinary school graduate's debt is climbing to US$106,000, the programme is vital if more food supply veterinarians are going to be added to the workforce.

Recent studies show that veterinarians working in food safety will fall short by 4-5 percent annually through 2016.

Food supply veterinarians are the guardians of US' food supply as they are the medical professionals who will diagnose and contain diseases in animals, said Hammer.

However, USDA officials said they are unable to implement the program because "such programmes have never been the function" of the agency. They added that the Act's language do not allow them to work with the nation's 28 colleges of veterinary medicine to coordinate the program.