By Ezekiel Dontinna
President of the Nigeria Veterinary Medical Association, Dr Moses Arokoyo, has disclosed that over of 2.7 million deaths experienced were caused by zoonosis due to inadequate veterinarians.
He disclosed this yesterday, while addressing Journalists at the press briefing, organised by association in Jos, the Plateau State capital, ahead of its National Congress and 100 years anniversary come October 22, 2024.
The President noted that, they were looking at 100 years of veterinary service delivery and also looking at opportunities of harnessing artificial intelligence and enhancing national security especially in the area of public health.
He disclosed that, as veterinarians, they were gatekeepers of public health and that, over 2.6 billion of the sicknesses and diseases people experience today came from zoonotic diseases.
“You may know that, about 2.7 million deaths result from zoonosis. Zoonosis is any disease that can move from animals to humans.
“If we are talking about 2.7 million deaths (verified by WHO), when you mention diseases like Lassa fever, anthrax, Ebola and avian influenza, moving from chickens to cattle, it becomes even more risky.
“If 75% of emerging diseases come from animals, any nation that fails to take its veterinarians seriously is unprepared for another pandemic”, Arokoyo observed.
He, however, expressed concern that the gross veterinarians deficit across 774 local governments areas in Nigeria became alarming because very few of them have veterinary doctors.
The Veterinarian, disclosed that most of the disease outbreaks started in villages or local government areas where there were no veterinarians and it spreads to urban areas.
He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to consider employing more veterinarians at all levels specifically, at the local government level to further improve not only public health, but economy of the Nigeria.
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