id21 viewpoints

AUVEC – using the virtual world to achieve real world gains in livestock care

The importance of livestock to poor people is as obvious as the humps on a camel. However, the diseases that affect animals and their keepers do not get the attention they need.

Livestock are key assets in sub-Saharan Africa. They provide food and a source of income through the sale of animal products (such as milk). However, zoonotic diseases (infectious diseases that pass from animals to humans) pose a direct threat to livestock keepers, their families and their communities.

Animal health services across sub-Saharan Africa need to be fast, effective and affordable, but they are severely compromised by privatisation of the veterinary sector. Another problem is a lack of trained animal health professionals, due to HIV/AIDS and the ‘brain-drain’ phenomena (where people with skills and training leave a country for higher wages elsewhere).

Controlling livestock disease now relies on farmers, animal health assistants and extension workers, who are often ill equipped for the task. At the same time, the livestock sector is expanding due to increasing demands for livestock food products and urbanisation. Improving the delivery of veterinary information is essential for supporting rural people to maintain their livestock. This issue is hugely important globally.

A major barrier to improved veterinary services is the shortage of educational facilities for animal health professionals working in the field in Africa. To address this, a consortium of veterinary schools from across sub-Saharan Africa have joined forces with the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh, UK, to use e-learning (electronic facilities such as the internet and CD-roms) and Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) to improve the quality of animal health, veterinary public health and animal production services in Africa. The African Universities Veterinary E-learning Consortium (AUVEC) connects institutions in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Sudan.

AUVEC aims to provide:

• educational opportunities for veterinary and animal health professionals engaged in delivering animal heath services
• distance e-learning, which expands opportunities for women who are often excluded from full-time residential education due to family responsibilities and cultural restrictions
• a forum for ‘South-South’, ‘North-South’ and ‘South-North’ knowledge transfer to increase independence and self-sustainability amongst vet schools in sub-Saharan Africa.

AUVEC has identified a need for higher degrees offered in a flexible, distance learning formats. Animal health professionals in sub-Saharan Africa also need less formal opportunities for Continuing Professional Development (CPD). CPD is increasingly vital for animal health professionals to keep informed about developments and new challenges in their sector.

The challenges of improving animal health care in sub-Saharan Africa continue and e-learing will continue to be part of this. At an AUVEC Steering Committee meeting in July 2006, John David Kabasa, the chairman of AUVEC, commented that “With the emergence of a new electronic world order, we see no reason why Africa cannot use the power of ICTs and e-learning to bridge capacity gaps and harness global knowledge in the animal health sector”.

Contributor
Sue Welburn and Mark Eisler

Further information
Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
The University of Edinburgh
Easter Bush, Roslin
Midlothian, Scotland
EH25 9RG

Tel +44 (0)131 650 6287
Fax +44 (0)131 650 7348

Email sue.welburn@ed.ac.uk or mark.eisler@ed.ac.uk

July 2006

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