News Update:
Progress on the Hil
By Dr. Mark Lutschaunig, Director of the GRD
This has been a good month for the veterinary profession. The Veterinary Services Investment Act was introduced in the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. This important piece of legislation will help to provide veterinary services to underserved geographic and professional areas of the profession. In addition, the final FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill contained $4.8M for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (NVMSA); $1M for the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD); and $495,000 for the National Research Support Project-7 (NRSP-7). NRSP-7 identifies animal drug needs for... More »
Featured Articles:
Senators Introduce Veterinary Services Legislation
Last month, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced a Senate bill, the Veterinary Services Investment Act (VSIA), which will confront critical veterinary service shortages.
VSIA would establish a new grant program to assist states in addressing their unique veterinary workforce needs. Grants awarded under the program could be used for activities such as recruiting veterinarians to work in underserved areas, bolstering food safety and conducting surveillance of animal disease.
Broad, bipartisan support for VSIA has grown substantially since a companion bill, H.R. 3519, was introduced in the... More »
PAMTA Update
By Dr. Ashley Shelton, Assistant Director of the GRD
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28th) has requested the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review the status of federal efforts to track and monitor data on antibiotic use in animals and report on their progress in assessing and mitigating the human health risk related to antibiotic use in animals. Specifically, she would like for the study to address the following key areas... More »
National Academy of Sciences Briefing on Global Surveillance
By Virginia R. Kiefer, AVMA GRD Extern
As a current veterinary student extern at the AVMA GRD, I had the incredible opportunity to attend a public briefing on the report entitled "Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases."
The report was written and presented by a National Academy of Sciences committee. The members of the committee included experts from human and veterinary medicine as well as public health. The co-chairs were Gerald Keusch, M.D., associate provost for global health at Boston University and associate dean of the School of Public Health at Boston University, and Marguerite Pappaioanou, D.V.M., M.V.P.M., PhD, executive director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical... More »
Advocacy Video:
A new advocacy video has been posted on AVMA TV. In the latest video, Dr. Ron DeHaven, AVMA CEO, discusses legislative successes and the importance of remaining involved in grassroots advocacy.
Click to your right to watch the video.
Opportunities:
Animal Welfare Symposium Set for Next Month
By Dr. Angela Demaree, Assistant Director of the GRD
I am taking this opportunity to remind you about the upcoming AVMA/AAVMC Joint International Educational Symposium on Animal Welfare. On the public policy stage, animal welfare and environmental issues have temporarily taken a back seat to the health care debate—that means we have some welcome breathing space to work on bolstering our knowledge base so we're ready for the next challenge.
Conducted at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at Michigan State University, November 9-11, the symposium is designed to provide an opportunity to explore animal welfare as an evolving discipline...More »
State Legislative Mid-Year Report Now Online
Every year, state legislatures consider thousands of proposals. So far in 2009, state legislators have introduced 142,000 bills, with 27,300 adopted into law. Of course, a good number of these proposals affect animals in some way, and in some cases, veterinary medicine specifically. The State Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Department in the AVMA Communications Division has just published its mid-year report highlighting significant bills and regulatory decisions. You can access the report by clicking here. The AVMA monthly state legislative updates, along with mid-year and year-end reports, are posted here.
Join us on Facebook
Join the hundreds of supporters of the Congressional Advocacy Network (AVMA-CAN) – including hundreds of people not affiliated with the veterinary profession – on the popular social networking site Facebook! The AVMA-CAN Facebook page is open to all Facebook users, so we encourage you, your family and friends to join our group to help advance the profession of veterinary medicine. Find AVMA-CAN's Facebook page here.
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