Community-based animal health delivery systems: improving the quality of veterinary service delivery

This paper aims to give a brief introduction to community-based animal health workers (CAHW). It will refer the reader to sources of more detailed information not only on the modalities of establishing quality community-based animal health worker delivery systems but also on those CAHW issues that veterinary policy makers should appreciate in order to make rational decisions on improving the quality of Veterinary Services. Referring to the OIE's guidelines on for the evaluation of Veterinary Services, the paper will utilise evidence produced by various authors and discuss how community-based animal health delivery systems can make a valuable contribution to improving Veterinary Services. The reader should be aware that all the examples and suggestions made in this paper refer to veterinary service delivery in the more remote and under-served livestock rearing areas of the developing world. The paper describes how this contribution is primarily achieved through improved linkages between veterinary authorities and the livestock owners and results in provision of privatised clinical services to livestock owners, improved utilisation of veterinary pharmaceuticals, the efficient delivery of sanitary mandate tasks such as vaccination campaigns, disease surveillance and other aspects of epizootic disease control. Finally some steps that veterinary administrations and authorities may consider in order to allow community-based animal health delivery systems to deliver these improvements, in a regulated manner, are highlighted.