Report: Global investment in veterinary services insufficient against disease threats

Animal health systems worldwide remain underfunded, exposing nations to costly transboundary diseases, food insecurity, and possibly the next pandemic, according to the second edition of "The State of the World's Animal Health" report from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

"The world's animal health systems are in crisis, not from a single outbreak or emergency, but from decades of chronic underinvestment that has left veterinary services ill-equipped to meet the demands of the 21st century," states the report, released ahead of the WOAH's 93rd General Session, held May 18-22 in Paris.

WOAH estimates that an annual investment of $2.3 billion annually is required to bring veterinary services worldwide up to acceptable international standards-less than 0.05% of the $3.6 trillion in economic losses incurred from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"The choice is not between spending and saving. It is between planned investment and unplanned loss," the report states.