By Olugbenga Salami
In commemoration of the World Veterinary Day 2026, the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, NVMA, has called for urgent reforms, stronger investment, and greater recognition of a sector it says is critical to national survival.
Under the global theme “Veterinarians: Guardians of Food and Health,” the association warned that Nigeria’s food systems, public health security, and environmental stability are at increasing risk due to persistent underfunding, weak institutional structures, and limited policy implementation.
In a statement, the NVMA National President, Dr. Moses Arokoyo described veterinarians as the backbone of food safety and disease prevention operating in an increasingly complex global health environment.
Arokoyo said veterinary professionals play a central role across Nigeria’s entire food value chain—from livestock production and disease prevention to abattoir inspection, laboratory diagnostics, surveillance systems, and policy advisory functions.
Despite this broad responsibility, the NVMA lamented that their contributions remain largely underestimated and often underrepresented in national planning.
“From farm to fork, from laboratory to legislation, the veterinary profession underpins the safety, security and sustainability of food systems while standing as the first line of defence against zoonotic disease threats,” the statement said.
The association warned that climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and emerging infectious diseases have blurred traditional boundaries between animal, human, and environmental health, making veterinary services more essential than ever.
According to Arokoyo, the world now operates firmly within a One Health framework, as diseases can move rapidly between animals and humans with environmental factors accelerating transmission.
Veterinarians, he noted, are increasingly central to outbreak containment, food safety assurance, vaccination programmes, and surveillance systems designed to prevent pandemics before they emerge.
“This makes veterinary medicine not a supporting function but a core pillar of national health security,” he said.
The NVMA President, however, lamented the absence of structured data to capture the livestock sector’s economic potential and called for the long‑overdue livestock census.
He added that other interventions like outbreak containment, meat inspection outcomes, and vaccination successes remain undocumented, weakening the profession’s visibility in policy and funding decisions.
“If it wasn’t measured, it didn’t happen,” he said, urging practitioners to adopt stronger documentation practices.
Arokoyo stressed that surveillance and reporting should not be viewed as mere bureaucratic requirements, but as vital advocacy that demonstrates impact and strengthens the case for sustained national investment in animal and public health systems.
He also highlighted persistent fragmentation across Nigeria’s health and food systems, warning that siloed operations reduce the country’s ability to respond effectively to crises.
The NVMA leader called for stronger integration of veterinary services into One Health coordination platforms, state and national emergency operations centres, and policy development frameworks.
Effective public health security and food safety, he argued, depend on coordinated action across all levels of governance and interdisciplinary collaboration.
“Together everyone achieves more,” the statement said, emphasising the need for inter‑agency collaboration in managing modern health threats.
The association acknowledged emerging technologies reshaping veterinary practice, including digital disease reporting, portable diagnostic tools, genomic epidemiology, and telemedicine for rural outreach.
Arokoyo, however, warned that innovation must be matched with ethical discipline and strong regulation. He raised concerns over rising cases of quackery and improper use of veterinary drugs, particularly antibiotics, which could worsen antimicrobial resistance and threaten both animal and human health.
Despite its strategic importance, he said the veterinary sector continues to suffer from structural neglect.
He called for full implementation of the National Veterinary Policy, adequate staffing of veterinary departments at state and local government levels, and sustainable funding for critical interventions—including routine vaccination programmes, abattoir rehabilitation, and antimicrobial resistance surveillance.
Failure to address these gaps, he warned, would continue to expose the country to preventable disease outbreaks, food security risks, and grave economic losses.
Arokoyo further stressed that veterinarians play a critical but often unrecognised role in safeguarding Nigeria’s stability. From rural clinics and farms to laboratories and abattoirs, they work daily to ensure food safety, animal health, and public protection.
He appealed to the Federal Government to recruit more veterinarians so their gatekeeping function between human and animal health is not breached.
