Andrew Munialo
For the safety of livestock, farmers will have to verify the expertise and qualification of veterinary doctors before inviting them to their farms with a click of a button on their smart phones to get details from the data base and website of the Uganda Veterinary council. This follows the launch of the two digital platforms on Thursday by the Minister of State for Agriculture in charge of Animal Husbandry Bright Rwamirama at the UVC offices in Wandegeya.
In the past, there hasn’t been a transparent way of checking for the qualification of veterinary doctors that farmers usually call whenever their livestock get issues. In the process, many farmers have lost especially cattle in the hands of unqualified veterinary doctors who on many occasions cause more harm than anticipated.
Rwamirama said the two platforms are part of regulatory mechanisms intended to bring sanity in the profession for the good of the country’s transformation.
“The Veterinary profession is central to our agriculture transformation agenda, public health security, and Uganda’s participation in regional and international trade, in livestock and in livestock and animal products,” he said..
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Rwamirama however added that for the profesion to carry out its mandate, there is need for accurate and quality data about the profesionals and the work they do.
“Fragmented records limit public visibility. Modern regulation requires digital system and I’m happy we are at it. It requires accurate data. It requires efficient precision service delivery. It also requires transparency and it requires accessible communication,” he said.
Adding that the digital platforms that were developed with funding from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) responds directly to the above needs that the digital platforms will improve.
Officiating at the launch, the FAO Country Representative Ezana Kassa explained that support towards the development of the two digital platforms was made possible with financial support from the Gates Foundation and the Empowering VeterinaryProfesiioanl Entreprenuership project.
Under this project FAO trained over 4000 paravets in the last mile animal and service delivery while reinforcing regulatory frameworks that govern their work.
Kassa explained further that the system will enhance registration, licensing, renewals, and the tracking of continuous professional development for the veterinary professionals.
“By strengthening veterinary governance, Uganda is advancing a broader health security and resilience system that will promote further collaborations at regional and international levels,” he added.
Dr Khalid Kirunda, the Chairperson of the UVC said that with new system in place,the council will enforce including enrolling veterinary doctors still on analogue gadgets to cross over so asto get regular updates ,and other services from the council.
