OIE Twinning project for South Africa

On 3 and 4 March 2017, the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise in Teramo will host the kick off meeting of the OIE twinning project on animal welfare which involves the IZSAM and the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

One delegate of the University and one delegate of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery of the Republic of South Africa, Dr. Quixi Sonntag and Dr. Moshe Mathonsi, will attend the meeting at the International Center for Veterinary Training and Information (CIFIV).

The kick off meeting will offer the opportunity to focus on the main aspects of the project, analysing the best strategies to reach the scheduled goals. The most important objective is to improve the knowledge and skills of the South African staff to enable the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria to obtain the status of the OIE Collaborating Centre for animal welfare, and provide scientific and technical assistance to other countries in the SADC area.

The twinning project on animal welfare, promoted by the World Organization for Animal Health - OIE, will last 18 months (the deadline is August 31, 2018). The focal person for the IZSAM party is Dr. Paolo Dalla Villa, head of the Human-Animal Relationship and Animal Welfare Laboratory and of the National Reference Centre for Veterinary Hygiene and non-Epidemic Emergencies (IUVENE).