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Minutes of Assembly Meeting: Congress Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney Australia, August 19th 2007 Present: Executive Board:
Dr. Brian Romberg (President),
Dr. Larry Dee (Past President)
Dr. David Wadsworth (President Elect)
Dr. Terry Lake (Vice President)
Prof. Dr. Jolle Kirpensteijn (Honorary Treasurer)
Dr. Luis Tello (Additional Board Member)
Dr. Anne Sorensen (Honorary Secretary) WSAVA Member Association Representatives, Committee members, and Invited Guests:
Dr. Mustafa Aktas, TSAVA/Turkey
Dr. Ben Albalas, HMVS/Greece
Dr. Seyed Javid Aldavood, ISAVA/Iran
Dr. Chris Amberger, ASMPA/Switzerland
Dr. Rau Benavente, AMVEPPA/Peru
Dr. Jiri Beranek, CSAVA Czech Republic
Dr. Jan I. Birch, DSAVA/Denmark
Dr. Ellen Bjerkaas, NSAVA/Norway
Dr. Sue Blaikie, NZVA/CAS New Zealand
Dr. Tibor Brauner, SKSAVA
Dr. Colin Burrows, NAVC
Dr. Ray Butcher, WSAVA Welfare Committe
Dr. Lawson Cairns, NVCG/SAVA South Africa
Dr. D.N. Carlotti, AFVAC/France
Dr. Kuo-ping Chang/ Taipei
Dr. Geoffrey Chen, SHSAVA
Dr. Carla Chow, HKVA/HongKong
Dr. Sirama Chunekamrai, VPAT/Thailand
Dr. Roger Clarke, Australia
Dr. Andrew Edney, Past President
Dr. Ciara Feeney, VICAS/Ireland
Dr. Jerzy Gawor, PSAVA/Poland
Dr. Marco Gioso, ANCLIVEPA/Brazil
Dr. Jorge Guerrero , NAVC
Dr. Margarete Haschka, VÔK
Dr. Sanae Hayashiya, JSAVA/Japan
Dr. Heinz Heinimann, Past President of WSAVA
Dr. Peter J. Ihrke, ACVD
Dr. Walt Ingwersen, WSAVA Editor
Dr. Umesh Karkare, PPAM/India
Dr. Seung Keunleg, KAHA/Korea
Dr. Sank Puk Kim, KAHA/Korea
Dr. Lita Konopore, LSAPS/Latvia
Dr. Juan José Krauss, AVEACA Argentina
Dr. Yonghoon Lee, KAHA/Korea
Dr. Veronika Leong, HKVA/ Hong Kong
Dr. Bean_Zearn Liu, Taipei Veterinary Association
Dr. Joaquim Vieira Lopes, APMVEAC
Dr. Davorin Lukman, CSAVS
Dr. Satoshi Masuda, JSAVA/Japan
Dr. Moe Milstein, BCVMA/British Columbia
Dr. Atsushi Murata, JSAVA Japan
Dr. Parntep Ratanakorn, VPAT/Thailand
Dr. J.F. Rousselot AFVAC/ France
Dr. Maurice Rozé, FAFVAC/ISVO
Dr. Amilan Siragurunathan, MSAVA/Malaysia
Dr. Lonneke Stark, NACAM RDVA/ Netherlands
Dr. Kevin Stevens, NVCG/SAVA South Africa
Dr. Thomas Steward, Nielsen ANCLIVEPA/Brazil
Dr. Paul Chelliah Suppiah, MSAVA/Malaysia
Dr. Ulla Suutirainen, FAVP/Finland
Dr. Miroslav Svoboda, CSAVA Czech Republic
Dr. Des Thompson, Guest, UK
Dr. Alexander Tkachow, RSAVA Russia
Dr. Johan van Tilburg, SAVAB
Dr. Tiina Toomet, ESAVA/Estonia
Dr. Anjop Venker van-Haagen, IVENTA
Dr. Warren Webber, NZVA/New Zealand
Dr. Link Welborn, AAHA United States of America
Dr. Julian Wells, BSAVA/UK
Dr. Huijun Xiong, GDSAVA/Guangdong
Dr. Eng Cheong Yeoh, MSAVA Malaysia
Dr. Yonghee Yoon, KAHA/Korea 1. Welcome by the president
Dr. Brian Romberg welcomed the Assembly Members and invited guests.
2. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from:
Dr. Oscar Resburgo, AVEACA Argentina
Dr. Herman Hazewinkel, IEWG
Dr. Griselda de Gregorio, SUVEPA Uruguay,
Dr. Josip Krasni, Bosnia Herzegowina
Dr. Alexandra Vilén, Sweden
Dr. Stefano Romagnoli, AIVPA Italy
Dr Hans-Klaus Dreier, VOK Austria. 3. Adoption of the Agenda
The agenda of this meeting was adopted with no amendments. 4. Minutes of the last meeting (Prague, October 10th 2006)
There were no corrections to the minutes. 5. Matters arising from the minutes
There were no matters arising from the minutes. 6. Adoption of the minutes
The President Dr. Brian Romberg signed the minutes as the true and correct minutes of the meeting. 7. Officer’s reports
A President’s report
Dr. Brian Romberg spoke to his written report. He mentioned those who were standing for election, and he thanked all different parties for their work for WSAVA. He thanked Dr. Hans Klaus Dreier, member of the Financial Advisory Ctt., FAC, and he asked if the Assembly would accept Dr. Link Welborn, USA to take his place for this year’s meeting. This was accepted by the Assembly.
Dr. Brian Romberg then encouraged the members of the Assembly to send fresh information and updates to the web page editor, to meet the expectations of the many people who visit the homepage. The number of hits is more than 2 million. a year. B President Elect’s report
Dr. David Wadsworth spoke to his written report. He would be dealing with the detail under CE Committee and the Strategic Planning meeting report C. Secretary’s report
Dr. Anne Sorensen thanked everyone for their support. She had been disappointed with the number of replies to a recent survey and stressed the need for Assembly members to be actively involved in the work of their association. D. Treasurer’s report
Dr. Terry Lake spoke to the accounts and explained the requirement for a negative budget. Dr. David Wadsworth reported from the Strategic Planning meeting from the parts addressing funding and the need for member associations to be proactive in providing the basic funding for the Association. He emphasized that there are still reserves enough to run the Association, and the economical situation is healthy, but there is a downward trend that needs to be changed. It is important to increase the income to be less dependant on sponsorship to run projects, animal welfare work, different programs, and secretarial improvements.
Dr. Umesh Karkare, member of the FAC, commented on the report, and informed, that the FAC approves the proposal for increase of the subscriptions.
Dr. Jolle Kirpensteijn informed the assembly that it is now the third year with a negative bottom line, and a change is needed. The current subscription is 275$ + 15 cents per member. He proposed a square root system (the square root of the number of members x 30) This gave an equitable subscription for all members and was derived from a system used by UNESCO .
Dr. Ellen Bjerkaas mentioned, that an increase of income is important, as increase in fees and increase of activity go together.
Dr. Didier Carlotti asked, if the increase also applies to other member associations other than the national associations. The answer was yes.
Dr. Ben Albalas commented that the old system was fair to the majority of member associations, but he approved of the new proposal. He suggested to use the number 35 instead of 30 as the square root figure, to increase income even a little more. Dr. Jolle Kirpensteijn recommended that we stay with the 30 factor for the first year.
Dr. Brian Romberg said, that after many years with no increase in subscription it has become imperative that there is a change and subscriptions are increased.
Prof Kirpenseteijn proposed the fee increase based on the above system which was seconded by Dr Karkare. The vote was passed with one against and no abstentions. The Subscription fee charged in January 2008 will therefore be :
The square root of the number of members of the association X 30.
There was discussion whether new members should commence payment of fees in the year immediately after their acceptance as Assembly members or pay a fee in the year of their joining. Dr Clarke suggested that when an association has applied for membership of WSAVA, this membership start immediately after approval by the Assembly. Dr. Terry Lake seconded, and the vote was unanimously accepting the motion.
Prof. Jolle Kirpensteijn discussed the budget. The figures for the year 2008 look much better than those for 2007. He proposed that the Association take 10% of sponsorship funding for committee projects. This was seconded by Dr Welborn and passed unanimously. He spoke to the subject of the Mexican debt. The discussion with the Mexican Association had been kept confidential, but in spite of numerous meetings and correspondence; no money had been forthcoming and so the Board decided that the Assembly should know about the problem. The Mexican Association owes the subscription fee for the last 3 years, a loan of 12.000$ they got from the WSAVA in advance before the congress, and the $13,000 per delegate payments as per the SOP. According to the constitution they should be expelled in 2008, but the Executive Board has tried to give reasonable time and terms, hoping that the problem could be solved. Dr. Ben Albalas said that it is a big step to expel an association. Dr. Roger Clarke proposed the Mexican Association should be notified, that the Assembly has voted and decided that unless the Mexican Association AMMVEPE has signed an acceptable agreement for paying the debt, and the subscriptions are up to date before the Assembly meeting in Dublin 2008, the Assembly will be forced to expel the association. The motion was seconded by Dr. Terry Lake, and the vote was unanimously agreed. 8. Committee Reports
A Animal welfare: Dr. Roger Clarke asked the Irish Representative to discuss with the Congress Committee, the speakers and lectures they require for the Animal Welfare stream in Dublin. The Animal Welfare committee was poised, ready to help. The Welfare Committee has to develop a link to WVA to be represented in the OIE as a spokesman for animal welfare. In the upcoming Asian program there will be an animal welfare stream. Dr. Ray Butcher wanted this association to be more proactive, and he encouraged the Assembly to be positive about responding to a questionnaire asking about the most important welfare issues in each association. B Continuing education: Dr. David Wadsworth thanked the sponsors of the CE program: Bayer, Intervet and Hill’s Pet Nutrition for their financial support, and the regional organizers, Dr. Lawson Cairns for his efforts in Africa, Dr. Luis Tello in South America, and Dr. Roger Clarke in Asia. In 2006 3850 delegates attended the seminars with 23 meetings in 21 countries. The average cost is 23.70$ per delegate. In 2007, 41 meetings are planned emphasizing the importance of this activity. Dr. Wadsworth thanked the associations that partner with a country/association to provide CE: AFVAC in Madagascar, BSAVA in Sub Sahara/Africa, DSAVA in Iran, NSAVA in Cuba, HVMS in Albania, SVK in Serbia, VOK in Croatia/Serbia, and AFVAC in Morocco. Then he mentioned the 3 categories for sponsorship, where the group 1 category associations get the costs covered, subject to budget approval and submission of receipts, group 2 receives 3000$ also subject to budget approval and receipts, and group 3 gets 500$.
The aim is that the associations will become self sufficient after being helped to develop their own CE infrastructure. Dr. Roger Clarke commented on the big program in Asia, and the plans for the future. Dr. Lawson Cairns explained how the French association is involved in Madagascar, and said that activities start in Mozambique and Swaziland this year. Dr. Luis Tello told how Peru, Venezuela, Columbia and Ecuador cooperate and use the same speaker. Dr. Ellen Bjerkaas mentioned that now Norway has sponsored CE in Cuba for the 5th time. She encouraged others to get involved in the same way. C Hereditary Diseases : Dr. Peter Markwell presented a report, as the Chairman of the committee Dr. Urs Giger was not present. It was mentioned that some dog breeds have very closed gene pools. It is important to be more aware of genetic diseases. The work of the committee has involved many scientists. It is the intention to standardize the diagnoses of hereditary diseases, and to develop a web site with all the information. The hope is that the first report will be given during the congress in Dublin. Dr. Brian Romberg thanked the company MARS for sponsorship of this work D Website: Dr. Walt Ingwersen described the changes to the website and encouraged the Assembly members to send in information and pictures of events in their country. Development had ceased for the moment and further revision would include the Handbook becoming web based. E Microchip: this committee is maintaining it’s pressure to make the ISO standard the world-wide standard. It is currently standard in Europe and Canada, but in the rest of the world, including USA, there are a various number of different microchips and manufacturers competing on the market and having chips that are indecipherable to other readers. F Scientific Advisory: Dr. Anjop Venker von Haagen spoke about the work of the committee. She mentioned the Vaccination Guidelines, now being presented at the congress, and emphasized the importance of a global implication. There are plans to start a new Project: a Lymphoma Project. The committee has made standardized guidelines for projects. G Standard Operating Procedure: Dr. Brian Romberg presented the changes to the SOP: a) Time for disbursing the money from the congress to the WSAVA. b) An Animal Welfare and Hereditary Diseases stream must be included in the program. c) The Executive Board members should not be used as chairpersons of the streams. H Strategic planning: Dr. David Wadsworth mentioned the new mission statement for WSAVA: “The WSAVA is dedicated to the continuing development of companion animal care around the world”. There will be a tag line added to the logo: “Global Veterinary development”.
The Strategic Planning meeting in Dublin in April was concentrated work, dealing with finance, board structure, executive position, committee aspirations, communication, CE funding and structure, and other items. The results will be reviewed in 12 months. Full detail was supplied in the Assembly papers.The Strategic Planning meeting is held every 2 years. I PR: Dr. Luis Tello spoke to a power point presentation and his desires to show the membership and others about the work of WSAVA .He required a budget to enable him to develop leaflets newsletters and other informative material. He encouraged the members to write to him about PR ideas.
Dr. Walt Ingwersen showed on-line how the web site looks. He pointed out where members info is. For the first time the congress proceedings are online at the same time as the congress is running. Dr. Ingwersen also encouraged members to use the site as a marketing tool. In 2006 the page had more than 2 million hits, and 5th most visited place is the member association page. The Handbook will not be printed in future but it will be available on the website in a printable form so members may obtain hard copy as they wish.
Dr. Ben Albalas asked about the history of the WSAVA. Dr. Luis Tello said it would be there in 2009, when the association will celebrate the 50th anniversary. 9. Standardization Projects:
Dr. Michael Day explained about the Vaccination Guidelines Project. The working group has had 3 meetings, and received sponsorship from Intervet. It was a stand alone project receiving no input (other than finance) from pharmaceutical companies. The Guidelines would be presented by Dr Day at this Congress, and would be published in the September issue of the JSAVA and soon be available for all on the WSAVA website. Dr. Michael Day pointed out headlines from the work, and said the guidelines would be very useful for practitioners in general practice all over the world. The aim is to vaccinate every animal, but to vaccinate each individual less frequently. Infectious diseases develop rapidly, and there will be a need to keep this work up to date.
Dr. Brian Romberg said that the GastroIntestinal Project will be finished and presented at the congress in Dublin
The Renal Project: funding of the Project is jointly by Hill’s Pet Nutrition and Bayer and the work can start as soon as this equipment is purchased and in place. 10. Election of Officers:
Dr. Terry Lake explained that his position as Mayor in his hometown takes too much time for him to dedicate enough time to the WSAVA and therefore he felt it necessary to step down from his position as the Vice President. He thanked everybody for their friendship during the years he has worked for the association.
There was an election for the positions of Vice President and Honorary Treasurer.
As contenders for the position as Vice president were Drs. Roger Clarke and Jolle Kirpensteijn. For the position of Honorary treasurer the contenders were Drs. Jiri Beranek and Diane Sheehan. After the election the Executive Board of WSAVA is:
President: Dr. Brian Romberg
Past President: Dr. Larry Dee
President Elect: Dr. David Wadsworth
Vice President: Dr. Jolle Kirpensteijn
Honorary Treasurer: Dr. Diane Sheehan
Honorary Secretary: Dr. Anne Sorensen
Board Member: Dr. Luis Tello Dr Walt Ingwersen will continue in his role as the website editor. 11. Liaison with other organizations:
Dr. Brian Romberg said that he has attempted to make contact with the WVA with the aim of them recognizing the WSAVA as the spokes body for small animal welfare. Due to the fact that the WVA does not allow associations as members we can not be officially join their association., Drs Clarke and Butcher however have been involved in some of the animal welfare issues of the WVA offering their opinion.
There is a warm relationship with FECAVA. Dr. David Wadsworth reported back from the FECAVA Board meetings, to which he had been invited. FECAVA and the President Dr. Ellen Bjerkaas were thanked for the invitations and their hospitality. 12. Congress Reports:
A 2007: Sydney, Australia: Dr. Diane Sheehan explained about the congress. The committee was confident that it would be a success, based on the number of registrants and the sponsorship received. Dr. Roger Clarke explained that simultaneous translation facilities were available but groups using them would have to supply their own translators.
B 2008: Dublin, Ireland: Dr. Ciara Feeney mentioned that everything is going according to the plans, and they are looking forward to the congress.
C 2009: Sao Paolo, Brazil: Dr. Marco Gioso informed about the preparation for this congress. The scientific program is being organized in cooperation with Dr Tello and Dr Michael Day.
D 2010: Geneva, Switzerland: Dr. Christopher Amberger reported that the committee had started preparations and would be holding their next meeting in January 2008.
E 2006: Dr. Jiri Beranek thanked everyone for their participation and support of the congress in Prague, which had been a big success. He reported on the number of delegates, exhibitors and other statistics from the congress. 13. Congress Bids for 2011:
It was decided last year that the Executive Board should evaluate bids more carefully, and this has been done this year. Prof. Jolle Kirpensteijn has visited all 3 bidding associations, and had thoroughly written an evaluation for each of them. This had been sent out to the Assembly before this meeting, to help the Assembly members in choosing the preferred bid. He reported that the preferred bid was from Malaysia but that all three bids were well presented and researched
The 3 associations then presented the bids: Korea, Malaysia, and New Zealand. The presentations were limited to a 10 minutes presentation, and 5 minutes for questions. All 3 bids were presented in a very interesting and spectacular way.
There was a secret vote, and the winner of the vote was Korea. 14. Changes to constitution:
There were no changes to the constitution. Dr. Larry Dee mentioned that if a member association has not paid the subscriptions for 3 years, according to the constitution this association should be expelled. At the next Assembly meeting in Dublin the Executive Board may reconsider this allowing membership with none of the advantages enjoyed by paying member associations. 15. New member association applications:
The Indian Federation FISAVA had applied for membership, but the application was withdrawn, to give more time for preparation.
Full membership:
Ecuador (Associacion De Medicos Veterinarios Especialistes en Pequenas Especies, AMVEPE): Dr. Luis Tello spoke to the application, and strongly recommended to accept the membership. Dr. Lawson Cairns seconded, and the Assembly accepted Ecuador as full member of WSAVA
Philippines (Philippine Animal Hospital Association PAHA): Dr. Parntep Ratanakorn proposed the membership, seconded by Dr. Peter Ihrke, and the association was granted full membership.
Namibia (Veterinary Association of Namibia): Dr. Lawson Cairns talked for this association, and said that they sent excuses for not being present at the assembly meeting. The membership was accepted by the Assembly.
Morocco (Association Marocaine des Veterinaires pour Animaux de Compagnie): Dr. Didier Carlotti explained how this association has been twinned with the French association for 3 years, and he recommended the membership, which was accepted by the assembly.
Associate membership:
The Albanian Chamber of Veterinary Surgeons. This association has already had a period of associate membership, but because of the economical situation the application is for a prolongation of this membership.The Assembly accepted this. There was a discussion about whether it was acceptable that for applications when there was nobody from the association to speak to the Assembly. Dr. Ben Albalas thought it inappropriate Dr. Ellen Bjerkaas expressed the need for a person to represent the association. A motion was proposed by Dr. David Wadsworth for a change to the constitution: When an association applies for full membership, there must be a Representative present at the Assembly meeting to speak to the application. The motion was seconded by Dr. Ben Albalas. Thus it will be added to the constitution at the next Assembly meeting in Dublin. 16. Any other business:
Dr. Des Thompson talked to the Assembly about Clinical Audits, the benefits of doing clinical audits, and the ways of doing it t if more information was required. right and wrong. He pointed out that clinical audits can show you where you have gone wrong.
Dr. Ray Butcher gave an update on the Blue Dog project. It is a successful project, and he encouraged the Assembly members to contact him about if. He then mentioned the upcoming World Rabies Day. Rabies kills many people every year, but with awareness and sponsorship an important improvement is possible. 17. Next meeting: Dublin, August 19th 2008
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