Members of the GBADs Executive Commitee were invited to produce a chapter for the WOAH: State of the World’s Animal Health, and this is now published. Written by Jonathan Rushton, Tom Marsh, Deborah Stacey, Mieghan Bruce, Dianne Mayberry, Theo Knight Jones, Guillaume Lhermie, Brecht Devleesschauwer, Hannah Davies, and Ben Huntington. Titled “The burden of animal diseases“ is available here

Summary: 

Calculating the return on investments in animal healthcare Across the world there are US$ 1.5 trillion of livestock assets, which generate a gross annual output of meat, milk and eggs worth US$ 1.7 trillion. Present this to an investor and many would want to be involved in livestock production. Yet this industry is not reaching its full potential and is fraught with risks relating to the presence of animal diseases. In response there are veterinary and paraveterinary infrastructures ensuring that livestock continue to provide affordable, safe and accessible food and generate a reasonable rate of return for those involved in the livestock sector. From a commercial perspective, the major challenge is balancing investments in animal health against the risks of animal disease. Yet animal health also contributes to broader sustainable development goals, which requires holistic information to understand the value added to broader societal goals. Generation of systematic information on the burden of animal diseases allows the private sector and governments to confidently invest in animal health, improving livestock productivity and food accessibility and lowering environmental and public health impacts. Good animal health is a public good that positively impacts everyone across societies. If you have any questions relating to the publication above, contact us!