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Recognizing The Role Of Veterinarians In The Public Health Workforce
Policy Date: 1/1/2001
Policy Number: 200116
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION,
Reaffirming APHA policy on the “Utilization of Doctors of Veterinary Medicine in Public Health” urging that the “services of doctors of veterinary medicine be made available to health departments;”1 and
Understanding that the veterinarian receives four years of post baccalaureate clinical training in comparative physiology, toxicology, immunology, and other medical disciplines, including extensive training in zoonotic diseases; and
Understanding that the veterinary profession has a recognized specialty for practitioners of public health and preventive medicine, the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM), that certifies core competencies of epidemiology, infectious disease, environmental health, food safety, and public policy; and that veterinary preventive medicine was granted full accreditation as a specialty by the American Veterinary Medical Association in 1950 and currently recognizes more than 700 diplomates certified through professional experience and comprehensive examination2; and
Recognizing the public health role of veterinarians in federal, state, and local public health agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Army Veterinary Corps, the veterinary category of the U.S. Public Health Service, and the Air Force Biomedical Science Corps, as well as 32 of 50 state health departments and many local health jurisdictions3; and
Recognizing contributions of veterinarians in infectious disease control, notably the identification of West Nile Virus,4 characterization of zoonotic morbilliviruses,5 and comparative retrovirology in pursuit of a human HIV vaccine;6 in environmental and occupational health and chronic disease;7-10 and in food safety, especially in pathogen control11 and in foodborne disease surveillance12; and noting that preventive measures developed by veterinarians and implemented through several federal agencies beginning in 1989 have and will help to prevent the introduction, emergence, or spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“Mad Cow Disease”) and the resulting public health problems now present in many European countries;13 and
Understanding that veterinarians are fully involved in federal, state and local disaster and bioterrorism preparedness and response planning, and are recruited each year into the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);14 and
Recognizing that the U.S. General Accounting Office noted that “Links between public and animal health agencies are becoming more important... outbreaks of West Nile virus signal a need for better coordination among public health and animal health agencies;”15 and
Recognizing that the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists “recommends that every state health department enhance epidemiologic surveillance and response by establishing a position for a public health veterinarian;”3 and
Understanding that public health veterinarians in state health departments serve essential functions, including traditional disease control responsibilities, and as critical liaisons to animal and wildlife health experts and other non-traditional public health partners when unusual public health challenges arise; therefore,
1. Urges that state and local health departments understand and support the role of veterinarians in public health, that the services of doctors of veterinary medicine be made available to health departments, and that every state health department have a designated position for a public health veterinarian.
2. Urges an expansion of suitable opportunities for qualified public health veterinarians in federal and uniformed service health agencies.
3. Urges that persons in these positions receive appropriate fiscal, scientific, and operational support to apply their knowledge of veterinary medicine towards the improvement of public health.
4. Urges schools of public health and applied public health training programs such as those provided by the CDC to provide continuing education and recruitment outreach to veterinarians.
5. Urges the American Veterinary Medical Association and schools of veterinary medicine to require expanded training in public health principles and practice in the core veterinary curriculum.
6. Urges the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) to educate AVMA members and APHA members to improve understanding of and support for the role of veterinarians in public health; and
7. Urges the National Governors Association, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture to understand and support the role of veterinarians in public health.
References
1. “Utilization of Doctors of Veterinary Medicine in Public Health,” Public Policy #6119, 1961; Public Policy Statements of the American Public Health Association, 1948–2000.
2. American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Constitution and By-Laws. Available at http://www.acvpm.org.
3. Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, Position Statement #ID-2, “Establishing positions in every state for a public health veterinarian,” 1999. Available at http://www.cste.org/ps1999/ID2.doc.
4. Outbreak of West Nile-like virus Encephalitis—New York, 1999. MMWR Oct 1, 1999;48(38):845-9, Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
preview/mmwrhtml/mm4838a1.htm
5. Philbey A, et al. An Apparently New Virus (Family Paramyxoviridae) Infectious for Pigs, Humans and Fruit Bats. Emerg Infect Dis 1998;4(2):269-271.
6. Elder J, et al. Lessons from the Cat : Feline Immunodeficiency Virus as a Tool to Develop Intervention Strategies Against Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type I. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1998;14(9): 797-801.
7. Hayes E. McElvaine MD, Orbach HG, Fernandez AM, Lyne S, Matte TD. Long-term trends in blood lead levels among children in Chicago: relationship to air lead levels. Pediatrics 1994;93:195-200.
8. Rubin CH, Niskar AS: Endocrine disrupters: an emerging environmental health problem. J Med Assoc GA 1999;88(4):27-30.
9. Esteban E, Rubin CH, McGeehin MA, Flanders WD, Baker MJ, Sinks TH. Evaluation of infant diarrhea associated with elevated levels of sulfate in drinking water: A case control investigation in South Dakota. Int J Occup Environ Health 1997;3(3):171-176.
10. Reeves MJ, Remington PL. Use of patient reminder letters to promote cancer screening services in women: a population-based study in Wisconsin. Prev Med 1999;29(3):202-9.
11. The Future of FSIS Veterinarians: Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century. US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, August 2000. Available at http://www.fsis. usda.gov/oa/pubs/vets%2Dfinal.htm.
12. Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 1996. MMWR. March 28, 1997;46(12):258-261. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
preview/mmwrhtml/00046981.htm.
13. Hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, Subcommittee of Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce and Tourism, on Mad Cow Disease, April 4, 2001; Panel I; federal government witnesses Alfonso Torres, DVM, MS, PhD, Deputy Administrator, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, and Stephen Sundlof, DVM, PhD, Director, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine. Testimony available at http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/issues/consumer.htm#Hearings
14. Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, background information available at http://www.cdc. gov/epo/dapht/eis/index.htm.
15. West Nile Virus Outbreak: Lessons for Public Health Preparedness, GAO Report to Congressional Requesters, GAO/HEHS-00-180, September 2000. Available at http://www.gao.gov.
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