THE BRITISH VETERINARY JOURNAL July/August

NO·4

EDITORIAL VETERINARY EDUCATION FOR THE TROPICS The article on veterinary education in this number raises many points of interest to those involved in the changing scene both in developed and less developed tropical countries. There can be little argument over the conclusions that it is basically important, if not essential, that students should be trained up to first qualifying degree in their own countries or regions, that there must be considerable alteration in curricula to suit local conditions, and, in most cases, the changes must be towards large increases in the animal production content with deductions in particular in the small animal clinical element. The role of the veterinary surgeon in the less developed areas of the world must be for many years mainly in the government services until sufficiently large numbers are built up for comprehensive staffing to be possible, and along with this, until the animal industries have reached the point where they can begin to support the growth of private practice. There is a great need to recognize that in the tropical and subtropical regions the veterinary surgeon must play his full part in co-operation with other agricultural disciplines in the development of animal production as one aspect of an overall agricultural programme. It is necessary to plan veterinary and animal production services and to train staff for these in the way shown in the plan illustrating the article, but the essential role of this organization as an important unit of the agricultural production team must not be forgotten. Professor Campbell rightly emphasizes the changing demands now that major epizootic diseases are being brought under control on an international basis. The results of this work have been excellent within the narrow approach of preventive medicine. But in one major disease campaign in particular, a satisfactory measure of international control was achieved, but without forward planning on the marketing of the animals preserved and of the increased calf crop. The greater initial agricultural cash crop production was followed by severe drought. Because of inadequate overall planning this has resulted in grave environmental damage in some areas. Increasing human populations throughout the tropical and subtropical countries must eventually cause greater pressure for increased animal production and bring about the establishment of more intensive systems. In the

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development of these, the veterinary surgeon must play his full part in a team of consultants. This requires special training, and while undergraduate needs may be met locally, there are many aspects of postgraduate training which may be better given in other countries, for example, in microbiology, pathology, genetics and nutrition. Furthermore, the period of postgraduate training must not be looked upon solely as one for advanced technical training but also as one during which there is the opportunity for the broadening of experience and for an exchange of views with others trained and brought up in different environments. In all these respects there is much which universities in the temperate zones can still provide.