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| Mr. Le Quoc Doanh - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) deliveres the welcome marks of the 9th ASVP Conference. |
Diseases are getting more dangerous
At the Conference, Mr. Le Quoc Doanh shared that since the world population is increasing quickly, the demand for foods of animal origin will continue to rise dramatically. According a UN report, by 2050, the world's population will reach 9.7 billion people, leading to an increase of over 70% of global food demand.
Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh also evaluated the 9th Asian Society of Veterinary Pathology Conference as a good chance for agencies of governments and experts to exchange the current situations of diseases on animals and share experiences in veterinary medicine in the region and in the world
To meet the needs of food in the near future, the world’s livestock industry is facing various challenges and heavy tasks. These include developing the quantity and quality of products, ensuring food hygiene and safety, and controlling disease risks on animals, especially zoonotic epidemics.
Recently, the outbreak of the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic has become complicated in more than 20 countries is seriously affecting the world’s livestock industry, including countries with good disease control.
In Vietnam, the ASF infection has occurred in more than 8,000 communes in nearly 700 districts of all 63 provinces and cities with a total of over 5 million pigs having died and been destroyed, which has caused enormous economic losses and negative impacts on the environment, social security and especially on farmers’ livelihoods.
Investments in scientific research in animal husbandry is one of the priorities in many countries. Research results have been utilized in developing and organizing timely and effective measures to prevent and control diseases.
"I believe that the Conference will help us understand better the challenges in veterinary management, as well as solutions to control emerging diseases, thus, contributing to the sustainable development of the livestock industry towards biosafety and environmental sanitation. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is committed to supporting strongly and accompanying the management and organization of effective implementation of necessary joint research programs and projects", emphasized Mr. Le Quoc Doanh.
Sharing experiences of disease response
According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan - President of Vietnam National University of Agriculture, the Asian Society of Veterinary Pathology (ASVP) was established in 2003 in Japan with the goal of strengthening research capacity in Veterinary medicine of countries in the region.
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| Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan, President of Vietnam National University of Agriculture delivers the opening speech. |
Over 16 years of development, the Society now has 9 member countries including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, the Philippines, India, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Every two years, the ASVP holds a scientific conference in a member country to share research results and build joint research projects for mutual development.
Since 2018, the ASF infection has appeared in China, Vietnam and many other countries, making the situation of diseases on animal in Asia and the world more complex. In addition, many other epidemics have not yet been effectively controlled such as zoonotic diseases (e.g. avian influenza, Streptococcus suis infection in pigs), wildlife diseases, and foodborne diseases.
Therefore, this Conference is a great opportunity for scientists to build connection, which will potentially contribute to minimizing the damages caused by animal diseases.
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| Deputy Minister of MARD, Mr. Le Quoc Doanh, President Nguyen Thi Lan and speakers of the Conference. |
In 2 days, the scientists will present more than 40 papers in 3 outbreak sessions, including Veterinary Pathology, Emerging diseases, and Animal health challenges of livestock farming. In addition, there will be more than 60 summary poster of research results.
"I hope that after this Conference, the scientists can take advantages of the shared knowledge to promote and bring ideas into reality, contributing to solving important issues of veterinary in general and in the field of veterinary diseases in particular in their own countries and also in the world", Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan expressed her wish for a successful conference.
The Conference received the participation of 34 international delegates from 12 countries in the Europe, America and Asia and 350 Vietnamese representatives from universities, research institutes, agencies of the Government of Vietnam, non-governmental organizations, veterinary clinics and businesses in the animal husbandry sector.