The North of Ireland Veterinary Association (NIVA) recently hosted a key meeting bringing together several expert speakers to address the topic of ‘Reducing the consequences of endemic diseases of livestock’ with a focus on bovine TB. Over 90 delegates registered for the event, demonstrating the interest in approaching the topic from new directions. NIVA recognises that bovine TB is having a devastating impact in NI, on farmers and farming families both mentally and financially, on vets and other stakeholders through the food chain, on livestock health and welfare, on wildlife, on the environment, and on society given that animal health is recognised as a ‘public good’.

One of the speakers was GBADs’ Director, Jonathan Rushton who gave a presentation on GBADs and the governance of control programmes, proper costing of the impacts from the economic and animal health perspectives and market incentives for freedom of disease. The presentation was well recieved by the delegates in the room and provided an interesting discussion which we hope can lead into something in the future.

If you would like to hear more about the work GBADs is doing, feel free to contact us!