The shortage in veterinarians, especially in rural areas, is reaching critical levels.
Dave Ford, chairperson of the Red Meat Industry Forum, recently addressed the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, where he warned that there are 20 vacant posts at national level (with 26 national posts filled), and 104 vacant posts at provincial level (with 287 provincial posts filled). Overall, 213 state veterinarian posts are filled (63%) and 124 posts are vacant (37%).
These vacancies pose a capacity constraint on the effective implementation of animal disease control and risk mitigation measures. “The recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in KZN has illustrated that the current capacity constraints within veterinary services must be addressed urgently,” Ford said in his portfolio briefing.
Dr Dewald Keet, a former chief state vet who is now in private practice, said the reasons for the shortage in state vets are manifold. “It starts with training,” he said. “To be frank, we are training too many women.”
He believes that women are not interested in being state vets in rural areas and rather want to have small animal practices. Keet said male vets are more likely to work in rural areas, which is where the most vacancies are.
“There is not enough interest in large animal practices. Government also needs to improve salaries to attract vets,” he added. Onderstepoort dean Prof Gerry Swan, said the ratio among veterinary students and graduates was 67% women and 33% men, while the ratio among registered vets in SA is 65% men and 35% women.
Prof Swan said Onderstepoort had embarked on a number of initiatives to raise awareness and to address the shortage of vets, including introducing a six-year single degree to replace the longer seven-year programme in 2011.
Dr Rebone Moerane, president of the SA Veterinary Council and chair of Primary Animal Health Care at Onderstepoort’s faculty of Veterinary Science, said it’s true that fewer females than males are interested in working in rural, large animal practices.
“But training more males isn’t a guaranteed solution,” he warned. “One needs to look holistically at the pupil’s background. In this regard, the faculty and role players are investigating possible avenues and have already implemented various programmes to deal with the issue.”
Meanwhile, the 30th World Veterinary Congress was recently wrapped up in Cape Town. It was attended by 2 000 veterinarians, para-veterinarians and animal healthcare professionals from over 150 nations. – Robyn Joubert
