Prior to the AVA conference in Brisbane, I attended both the Council of Presidents (COP) meeting and Policy and Advisory Council Meeting (PAC). The focus of COP was primarily the new AVA membership model and the new website. Both aim to increase accessibility of AVA membership and AVA services with new group membership packages and tiered individual membership with access to all SIGs. The new website and access to information about membership options was launched in early June.
Writing the president’s report for COP again reminded me of the impact we have as a small SIG within the association – regularly providing expert input in policy and advocacy in a wide range of areas in VPH and OH. In particular, we provided a number of subject matter experts who assisted in the development of the HPAI policy in pet birds, backyard poultry and wild birds, as well as the accompanying practitioner toolkit. This was done in collaboration with Avian specialist practitioners leading this working group.
In the report, the committee and I detailed our 3 top successes, challenges and priorities for the future. These are included below to raise awareness and encourage and motivate more SIG members to be part of our future activities. Please let me know if you would like to be part of the committee or executive.
Top 3 successes:
- Regular informative newsletters to SIG membership (committed newsletter editors);
- Integrated VPH content in the 2026 AVA conference program and collaboration on topics and speakers for One Health content for ACV annual conference 2026;
- High level of commitment by committee and SIG executive.
Top 3 challenges:
- Committee and executive are stretched thin, limiting our impact. This results in limited capacity for cross-cutting advocacy engagement – while AVPH is relatively small, many of the issues we have expertise on are inherently cross-cutting. As such, despite the size of the SIG, our involvement in advocacy activities would ideally have broad input across a range of submissions, which we simply don’t have the capacity for. Ideally, public health perspectives would be incorporated into most submission and policy considerations, but the current committee lacks the capacity to fully engage at that level. Despite this, there have been a number of occasions where AVPH members have been requested to assist. This certainly highlights that there are many skills and much knowledge within the SIG which is requested by the AVA during times of need. There may be opportunity to strengthen mechanisms or provide additional support to better facilitate broader involvement of committee members in these activities while minimising the burden of such contributions.
- Alignment/accessibility of public health within AVA – public health veterinarians remain under-represented within the AVA membership, with feedback from colleagues suggesting that this may reflect a combination of factors, including cost considerations and perceived misalignment between current AVA offerings (e.g. educational opportunities and/or professional resources) and the needs of those working in public health roles. While the new membership model may improve this for some, addressing these barriers and enhancing AVA activities for this cohort could support greater engagement and representation.
- Predominately reactive approach to advocacy – many public health considerations tend to be quite reactive – strengthening systems and processes to better position both the SIG and the AVA for more proactive, strategic advocacy could help to improve impact.
Top 3 Priorities
- Continue to provide the AVA with technical and scientific guidance and knowledge related to VPH and One Health to support clinical practitioners, animal health and wellbeing and advocating for issues related to national biosecurity and food security.
- Supporting the AVA to promote competencies, knowledge and skills which are foundational for effective veterinary practitioners including basic epidemiology, infection prevention and control practices, antimicrobial stewardship and One Health.
- Provide mentorship and support to Australian veterinarians working in VPH and One Health.
In PAC, AVPH has proposed writing a One Health policy as well as a policy related to responsible use of parasiticides in response to a paper presented by Jane E. Sykes, Professor of Small Animal Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA at ANZCVS Science Week last year. The Conservation Biology (AVCB) SIG is interested in collaborating with us in the latter. Please let me know if you are interested in contributing to either of these proposed policies.
We have one confirmed and one proposed AVPH Webinar coming up. On July 30, Jake O’Brien from the University of Queensland School of Public Health will speak on the Application of Wastewater for AMR. Later in the year we are proposing a webinar around the idea of ‘I don’t think clinical practice is for me. What else can I do?’. Given the breadth of experience on this topic in AVPH, we are proposing some stories from members and a Q&A session. If you have a great story to share in this area, please let us know.
This president’s update comes from Bangkok Airport on my way back from Vientiane, Laos. As part of my current role in the APCOVE One Health activity, I was invited to the US CDC FETP Frontline 3.0: One Health Mentor Workshop for participating ASEAN countries. CDC has integrated One Health concepts into its frontline field epidemiology training program in recognition of the need for a cross disciplinary approach to disease. Despite being public health focused they had already seen increasing cross disciplinary training in their frontline FETP prior to the current OH version. The mentors workshop participants were predominantly from human health but were joined by a significant number of colleagues from animal and environmental health, bringing a depth of perspectives and knowledge to discussions.
During my time in Laos, I caught up with two colleagues in Vientiene. Dr Vannaphone Phouthana Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, National University of Laos, has played a significant role in the establishment and continued development of the veterinary school in Laos. With their first intake in 2009, the Veterinary School has enabled growth of the number of veterinarians in Laos. Prior to this, veterinary training in other countries was out of reach for many Lao citizens, with few qualified veterinarians in a country which is a major thoroughfare for animal trade between its neighbouring countries, increasing the risk of regional spread of major transboundary animal diseases. Supatsak (Art) Subharat is currently the country lead FAO ECTAD-AHP, working in partnership with the Lao government and other in-country collaborators to support capacity building in animal health.
Support from the Pandemic Fund as well as other initiatives is enabling both Vannaphone and Art to continue to support Animal Health and One Health initiatives in Laos. The work of these colleagues and others, including those in Australia and New Zealand, is vital for the future of animal, human and ecosystem health in our region.
Sandra Steele
Acting President AVPH, PAC representative AVPH