An Associate Professor, Veterinary Anatomy, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi, Dr Rachel Korzerzer has called on the government of Nigeria and Benue State to fashion out modalities that will increase the learning and practice of Veterinary medicine in the country.
Dr. Korzerzer, in an interview at The Voice premises, explained that despite the important nature of Veterinary medicine in any nation, the awareness is still inadequate in this part of the world.
She also maintained that, the society can only be balanced if both the animals and humans who share the same environment are both taken care of health wise to avoid transmissible diseases which occur between human and animals.
The academic don however lamented that, the needed balance is far fetched since a lot of people who own animals do not treat them nor are even aware of what animal rearing entails.
The Veterinarian further commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government for doing exceptionally well in this area by creating the new Federal Department of Livestock Development, which is an avenue for Veterinary doctors to exercise the required impact for an improved economy.
She also suggested that, “one of the ways to create wealth is through Agriculture, and Agriculture is in two aspects; crop cultivation and livestock production”
Dr Korzerzer therefore, said the government should ensure that every state has a Veterinary hospital fully equipped with state of the art equipment and research institutes to encourage advanced research leading to availability of expensive vaccines and anti- venoms at subsidized cost within Nigeria.
The Veterinarian said educative programmes be organized from time to time to educate the masses about the dangers of living with animals without treating them, and the dangers of consuming sick animals, as animals can harbour disease causing agents which are transmissible to man. “There is a common saying here by lay men that, If the animal is sick, slaughter it and eat. Ignorance is expensive.”She said
