Vietnam is a pioneer in using the veterinary system capacity assessment toolkit

Sharing at the “National Workshop on Veterinary Workforce Development” on the morning of November 7 in Hanoi, Mr. Nguyen Van Long, Director of the Department of Animal Health, said that the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Vietnamese veterinary sector both carry the mission of protecting animal and human health and contributing a part in environmental protection.

In recent times, the Department of Animal Health has closely coordinated with WOAH and other organizations and countries around the world to improve the capacity of the Vietnamese veterinary system. From there, effectively deploy veterinary tasks, control dangerous disease epidemics transmitted from animals to humans and across borders, and ensure food safety.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Long, Vietnam is the first country in the world to use WOAH's toolkit for assessing the capacity of veterinary systems at all levels. Through this, the capacity, actual situation, needs, and operation of the domestic veterinary system are understood more clearly. At the same time, it also shows that Vietnam is a responsible country in working with WOAH to evaluate and complete the toolkit to serve as a basis for replication for other countries in the region and the world.

Mr. Long expressed his wish that the World Organization for Animal Health continue to support training, coaching, and enhancing professional capacity for Vietnamese veterinary staff, especially in epidemiology, disease prevention and control, risk analysis in exporting and importing animals, antibiotic use control, food safety assurance, etc.

According to the Department of Animal Health, the veterinary workforce plays an extremely important role in protecting animal health and welfare and participates in protecting human health. To be able to perform this important role, the veterinary workforce must be assured of appropriate quantity and capacity.

Vietnam is a member of the World Organization for Animal Health. Participating in veterinary capacity assessments will help to understand more deeply the combination of doctors, grassroots veterinary staff, and even community and village veterinary staff to achieve the goal of maximizing the efficiency of veterinary service delivery.

Besides, when deciding to use grassroots veterinary staff, authorities are required to have an appropriate legal framework to establish and enforce standards on training, qualifications, privileges, etc.

WOAH’s Toolkit includes legal standards, standards for veterinary statutory bodies, guidance on education, and methods of assessing and planning the workforce, along with a list of programs to help countries apply standards and guidelines.

Ms. Pennapa Matayompong, Consultant to the World Organization for Animal Health in Southeast Asia, shared that the World Organization for Animal Health is building a veterinary workforce development (WFD) program with the aim of creating tools and approaches to assist member countries in assessing, planning, and developing the veterinary workforce.

Through this program, member countries are encouraged to systematically assess their needs for the veterinary workforce and address those needs in accordance with actual conditions in existing finance, humans, and education.

On that basis, during the three days of the workshop (November 7–9), delegates will be fully equipped with knowledge to help raise awareness of the value and importance of evaluation and the need to ensure a favorable and suitable environment to implement the veterinary workforce development plan.

At the same time, raise awareness of WOAH’s tools and guidelines related to the roadmap for capacity assessment and veterinary workforce development. Review the current situation of the country's veterinary human resources, discuss assessment and planning methods, identify national priorities, discuss development directions, and initiate a draft veterinary workforce approach or development strategy.

Previously, at the “Consultation meeting to support the implementation of the roadmap for strengthening the management capacity of Vietnam's veterinary services in Vietnam, 2021-2030”, Ms. Pauline Tamesis, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, also affirmed the need to develop a strong veterinary system. She believed that a strong veterinary system is essential to ensure that ‘no one is left behind’ in the country’s journey to high-income status.