World Veterinary Association announces 2024 World Veterinary Day theme

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The World Veterinary Association (WVA) announced that this year’s World Veterinary Day will celebrate veterinarians as essential workers in their communities. The official theme, “Veterinarians are essential health workers” honors veterinarians and all do to keep their communities safe and protected.¹

“This dimension of the veterinarians’ work often remains invisible to the society but protecting and improving the health of people and their communities is an essential part of the vet profession,” the WVA shared in an organizational release.¹ “All graduated veterinarians have undergone comprehensive medical training, and regardless of their professional area of practice, are responsible, for promoting public health and food safety and security.”

In 2000, the WVA created World Veterinary Day to celebrate the veterinary profession and it takes place each year on the last Saturday of April. Each year, the WVA and the Health for Animals, a global health care industry association, present the World Veterinary Day Award.² The award is presented to whomever is promoting the theme to the highest degree. The winning campaigns can be campaigns local to communities, educational seminars, new research, media campaigns, and more. If selected, the winner will receive $5,000.

For example, on 2021, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) won the award for the theme “Veterinarian response to the COVID-19 Crisis resource center. The AVMA kept the center up to date throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to make sure veterinarians across the world had access to these resources to better serve their communities. The resource center included scientific summaries, short videos, risk assessments summaries, online tools, blogs, and other resources.³

References

1. World Veterinary Day - World Veterinary Association. World Veterinary Association. Published March 18, 2022. https://worldvet.org/activities/world-veterinary-day/
2. World Veterinary Day celebrates veterinarians as essential health workers. News release. American Veterinary Medical Association. March 11, 2024. Accessed March 11, 2024. https://www.avma.org/news/world-veterinary-day-celebrates-veterinarians-essential-health-workers
3. AVMA wins World Veterinary Day Award 2021 recognizing the veterinary response to the COVID-19 crisis. News release. American Veterinary Medical Association. July 30, 2021. Accessed March 11, 2024. https://www.avma.org/news/press-releases/avma-wins-world-veterinary-day-award-2021-recognizing-veterinary-response-covid#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIn%20the%20U.S.%2C%20the%20work,2021%20World%20Veterinary%20Day%20Award.