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Message from WSAVA President David Wadsworth

December 2009 Year-End Report

Dear Colleagues and Friends of WSAVA,

What an eventful year for WSAVA! The WSAVA Congress held in Sao Paulo was a great success with over 3500 delegates making it the biggest WSAVA World Congress ever staged. It was always going to be a huge party and the Saturday night event had the delegates dancing and partying until the early hours of the morning. The education programme was superb and great credit must go to Drs. Wanderson Ferrara, Saliem Sayeed and Marco Gioso and their committees for their work in staging the Congress and setting such a high standard for the future. Talking of which, the Assembly voted to take the 2013 Congress to Christchurch New Zealand and we are already working hard with them to ensure our ongoing Congress success. We are immensely grateful to our Prime Congress Sponsor, Hill’s Pet Nutrition for all the help given to WSAVA who are continuing to work with us as we aim to set the highest standards in veterinary education.

There have been changes to the WSAVA Board. We were saddened that Dr. Luis Tello resigned because of time commitment pressures but I am really pleased that he has been able to continue to look after the WSAVA CE programme in Latin America. His deep knowledge of the area and his many friends and contacts mean that the programme runs very smoothly and I am very grateful for all the help he gives. He was replaced by Professor Peter Ihrke – who I am sure needs no introduction. He is currently Vice President and we will be looking to him for his wisdom and knowledge of international committee work. Dr. Veronica Leong also joined the Board to add greater depth to a committee which is struggling under an expanding workload. Her expertise in marketing will be invaluable in helping us to expand our PR portfolio.

Professor Jolle Kirpensteijn – and we must congratulate him on being elected a full Professor in the University of Utrecht, has been working tirelessly on future WSAVA Congresses and developing sponsorship opportunities with our commercial partners. The Assembly voted in Sao Paulo to form a Congress Steering Committee to look into the current structure and future development of the WSAVA Congress. The committee is composed of veterinarians with experience of WSAVA and other large congresses and also, for the first time ever, contains a representative from our commercial partner companies to add greater depth and breadth to the discussions. Drs. Kirpensteijn and Sheehan have worked tirelessly to form this committee which will have as one of its first remits, the job of examining the bids for the 2014 Congress and making a recommendation to the Board and the Assembly in Geneva.

Dr. Sheehan has continued to work hard in developing the treasury and is now faced with the task of working with the new Canadian accountants and instituting another new system that will hopefully be stable for many years to come as the WSAVA settles into its new incorporation as a Canadian Registered not-for-profit company.

Hon. Secretaries are always spoken of as hard working and Dr. Walt Ingwersen is no exception. As well as his normal duties, he has been the lynch pin in all the discussions and negotiations with the Canadian authorities and we are grateful to him and his wife June for all their hard work. June will also be developing the prototype WSAVA secretariat which will function separately to but under the jurisdiction of the Honorary Secretary.

Dr. Brian Romberg has not been relaxing after his tenure as President, he has been working on the formation of the WSAVA foundation, again as a registered company based in Canada and he will be submitting his report on this exciting project in Geneva.

The Strategic Planning process identified Animal Welfare as one of the four pillars that underwrote the raison d’etre of WSAVA. I am extremely pleased to announce that WSAVA is entering into a partnership with WALTHAM, a division of Mars Incorporated, who will work with the Association in promoting animal welfare during the WSAVA and other large congresses, in promoting animal welfare in member association countries where there is an identified need for an improvement in standards and to promote the WSAVA Animal Welfare Convention. We are entering a very exciting phase of development of heightened awareness of the veterinary profession in this subject.

The WSAVA CE programme last year hosted 5000 delegates in 32 countries and the work of the committee will be reported in detail later. I am grateful to the help given to me by Drs. Julian Wells, Roger Clarke, Lawson Cairns and Luis Tello in overseeing their various regional meetings. Our sponsors, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health and Bayer Animal Health provide invaluable help in the planning stages and work with the Association representatives in setting up the local meetings. Our member associations, ASAVA, BSAVA, VOK, AFVAC and NSAVA have once again been extremely helpful and generous in providing expertise and funding which has continued to help our programme to expand.

Professor Urs Giger and his team have been making excellent progress in the mapping of the canine and feline genomes and identifying the many hereditary diseases. WALTHAM is to be thanked for their background assistance and funding for this extremely worthwhile project which will hopefully improve standards in breeding for generations to come.

Professor David Polzin has been organizing the Renal Standardization Project which should now be getting well into its stride and the information produced in two years time should benefit current generations of animals. This is a huge project and we are grateful to both Hill’s Pet Nutrition and Bayer Animal Health for their support in this project.

Professor Michael Day has been chairing the second phase of the vaccination protocol group and will be reporting in Geneva on this first truly global project which will add much needed clarity to a subject which seems to vary from country to country. Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health have been our partners in this exciting and challenging subject.

Michael Day and the SAC have worked unceasingly in advising the Congress organizers on the scientific programmes of the WSAVA congresses and will be overseeing the One Health One Medicine initiative which will for part of the programme in Geneva. Renowned international speakers from both the medical and veterinary professions will exchange ideas and look to future developments of mutual interest.

We are looking forward to the next Congress in Geneva next June. Dr. Chris Amberger and his team have prepared an excellent programme. CPD with Lac Leman and Mont Blanc as a back drop – what more can one say! Make a note in your diaries and join us there.

I wish you every best wish for the holiday season and the New Year

David Wadsworth
December 2009