Nigel Gibbens
Chief Veterinary Officer
UK
Title: The veterinary role in meeting key global challenges, now and for the future
Biography
Biography: Nigel Gibbens
Abstract
As veterinarians we are facing global challenges on an ever increasing scale. This presentation will set out the importance of the veterinary profession to society in a changing and challenging environment. An increasing human population increases the pressure on the livestock and agricultural sector to provide safe and healthy food for all; increasing livestock means more intensive farming and pressure on welfare. Global population movement and increased trade opens new pathways for emerging diseases, while some of the old threats re-emerge. Climate change will result in changing patterns of livestock production and can bring both animals and humans into contact with wildlife, threatening biodiversity as well as leading to new transboundary diseases. rnHowever, as we settle into the 21st Century, we have opportunities to embrace new technologies, be it new diagnostics or the challenge we face with the rise of AMR, new ways of farming, new food sources, adapting to climate change and working closely with industry sectors, public health colleagues and international colleagues on agendas for One Health and One Welfare.
