Durban – Rural dwellers and small-scale farmers are set to have increased access to primary animal healthcare with the promulgation of new rules for para-veterinary professionals.
In terms of the new rules, animal health technicians (AHTs) and veterinary nurses will be able to open their own facilities.
The South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) welcomed the introduction of the new rules, which came into effect in December 2022.
SAVC president Dr Nandipha Ndudane said the move will broaden access to primary healthcare services for animal owners and small-scale farmers in rural and under-served areas, and create new income streams for professionals.
A recent SAVC survey, funded by the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority, revealed that a significant number of emerging and small-scale farmers do not make use of veterinary services at all, notwithstanding owning a third of the country’s cattle and sheep.
Ndudane said AHTs will be equipped to provide training and education to emerging farmers about livestock diseases and how to prevent them.
“This will hopefully contribute to the health of the national herd by ensuring the integrity of the animal proteins we consume, while always being mindful to avoid the overuse of antimicrobials due to the use of stock remedies in the food chain.”
An AHT can now establish a Primary Animal Health Care (PAHC) facility from which to offer on-site or mobile consultation services, which must be linked to a physical PAHC facility and sell stock remedies.
The PAHC facility must be registered with the SAVC.
Thabiso Mohlabi, an SAVC Council member representing the AHT profession said: “I can only define the new rules as a bold step to protect rural livelihoods and unlock the economic potential of rural areas. They essentially allow AHTs to put their ideas into practice, and to actively engage in work that interests them and for which they have been trained.”
The new rules also enable veterinary nurses to open their own veterinary nursing facilities and offer basic animal care (such as beak and nail clipping), undertake catheterisation without sedation, administer medicine prescribed by a vet and vaccinations, lance abscesses and care for wounds, and offer physical rehabilitation.
Some of these services may be performed without veterinary supervision, but others require a referral from a veterinarian.
Sister Erika Bornman, who represents the veterinary nursing profession on the SAVC, said: “This is indeed a very positive development for our profession as it is the first time that we can run and own businesses for our own gain, independent of veterinary supervision under certain circumstances. The profession can now stand on its own and, with creative collaboration with the veterinary profession and other para-veterinary professions, it will widen access to our services.”