Players in the Directorate of Animal Industry and Fisheries are demanding an independent ministry, saying this will enable the sector to perform more efficiently.
The officials, mainly in the veterinary department, say the sector is so wide in terms of the people involved including pastoralists and the entire livestock value chain, as well as the fisheries industry, which is one of the biggest industries contributing to the economy.
According to national statistics, livestock currently contribute 3.5% to 5% to the Gross Domestic Product-GDP, while the fisheries sector is estimated at 3%, bringing the total size of the sector to an estimated 8% of the value of the economy.
The Veterinarians, who joined the world to mark World Veterinary Day were justifying their contribution towards preventing pandemic outbreaks, which comes a year after the Covid-19 outbreak.
The task to the Vets comes as part of the One Health Platform, a 4-year strategy launched in 2018 to enable collaboration between four government agencies, including the Health Ministry, the Ministry of Water and Environment and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
The strategy mainly aims at preventing or containing zoonotic disease outbreaks (diseases that attack both animals and humans). The vets say that like in many previous outbreaks, resources limited them during their response to the Covid 19 outbreak, though they played a big role.
Their job is to detect and manage outbreaks in both domestic and wild animals, while the ministry of health responds to attacks on humans. The vets were also named among the essential workers during the lockdown to ensure the animal products supplied for consumption were safe, as well as the safety of livestock from diseases.
They say one of the trickiest areas is when they go into animal habitats without protection and not knowing, which diseases the animals could be having. The President of the Uganda Veterinary Association Dr. Dan Kasibule says there is a need to recentralize their activities to the level of a ministry.
His view was echoed by the Commissioner, Animal Health Dr. Anna Rose Ademun, who gave the contrast between them and the Ministry of Health, which has more resources and therefore becomes more effective in responding to outbreaks.
She acknowledges that the health ministry has a bigger role to play, but says that with autonomy, they would be more efficient and contribute even more to the One-Health Strategy.
John Opolot, the Assistant Commissioner-Veterinary Health and Zoonosis Division at the Ministry of Health, advised his counterparts in the ministry of agriculture animal husbandry directorate, to expand their departments into directories first.
He says that currently, they do not have the bargaining capacity because they only have one directorate, which cannot be turned into a ministry,
But the vets might have to do more including convincing president Museveni on the importance of their profession and what it takes to become a professional veterinarian.
The Animal Health Commissioner Dr. Adenum says President Yoweri Museveni does not believe that it takes a lot of academic and professional effort to be a vet. This is even one of the reasons the Vets are underpaid compared to other government scientists, according to Adenum.
However, the Food and Agriculture Organization hails the contribution of the vet sector in the country during the pandemic. The FAO Country Representative Antonio Querido said his organization worked with the Ugandan Vets to avert possible catastrophes last year, of the Rift Valley Fever in southwestern Uganda.
The Assistant FAO Representative in Uganda, Dr, Charles Owach, said the Vets also ensure continued supply of safe livestock products for the people.
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