The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine held an International Training Workshop “Agro-political Trends and German Experience in Breeding and Animal Health Management in Europe”
As a part of the cooperation agreement between the Department of Epizootology and Veterinary Business Organization and German-Ukrainian Agrarian Policy Dialogue (APD), on February 19, 2020, the International Training Workshop “Agro-political Trends and German Experience in Breeding and Animal Health Management in Europe” was held for students, postgraduates, young scientists and practicing veterinarians at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of NUBiP of Ukraine.
The highlight of the workshop was a speech by a leading scientist and specialist, Deputy Chairman of the Veterinary Association for Animal Welfare (TVT) of Germany, Professor of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Thomas Blaha. He delivered an open lecture on the topic: “Current agro-political challenges in breeding farm animals in Germany”.
The approach to the presentation of the material and the content of the lecture aroused keen interest among the audience. The lecture was devoted to animal welfare, reducing the use of antibiotics, managing animal health and improving the quality and safety of products. Professor Blaha dwelled on European trends and the attitude of the population to modern methods of animal keeping, the evolution of views to industrial livestock raising in Germany over the last hundred years.
Thomas Blaha drew attention to the pressing issue in the EU countries regarding the mandatory monitoring of antibiotic use in livestock raising. In 2014, Germany amended the Medicines Use Act and introduced mandatory monitoring, according to which each veterinarian reports on the use of antibiotics per animal. This led to the ranking of enterprises by their “animal treatment index” (TBI), which directly affected the cost of production. The result was a 57% reduction in the antibiotic use over the last 5 years.
This topic proved to be interesting for teachers, young scientists and students. The workshop was extremely relevant for the veterinarians, who are currently undergoing an advanced training course at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. They eagerly participated in the discussions and addressed a lot of questions to Thomas Blaha. After all, EU norms are gradually being implemented in Ukraine and all topical issues in the field of veterinary medicine will become common in the nearest future.
Maxym Zhukovsky
