nEWS

GLOBAL RABIES EXPERTS PARTNER TO launch

BLueprint for Rabies Prevention & cONTROL

July 19, 2010 – The Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Partners for Rabies Prevention and FAO's Regional Central Animal Health in Bamako, under the coordination of Dr Tiziana Lembo, have launched the new on-line "Blueprint for Canine Rabies Elimination and Human Rabies Prevention" (www.rabiesblueprint.com) to  serve as a guide for countries that would like to prevent human rabies by eliminating canine rabies within their borders. The blueprint includes a summary diagram of the components of a successful canine rabies control program. Part I focuses on the control of canine rabies. A second document (Part II) dealing with wildlife rabies control will also be compiled. Currently, the blueprint is available in English and French.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2009/2010 is published

July 6, 2010 – At the Veterinarians without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières – Canada (VWB/VSF) 2010 Annual General Meeting in Calgary, Board President David Waltner-Toews presented the 2009/2010 Annual Report, "When I look back on the last year for Veterinarians without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières, I see one very low point and a whole lot of high points."
Read the President's report and the Annual Report.

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RABIES STILL KILLS ONE PERSON EVERY TEN MINUTES

July 1, 2010 – Veterinarians without Borders – Canada (VWB/VSF) fights to eradicate rabies around the world. In recognition of World Rabies day – September 28, 2010 – VWB/VSF is calling on Canadians to help raise awareness about the global rabies issue. The organization’s third annual Rabies Campaign, running throughout the month of September, will help raise funds to support international rabies prevention programs. Read more.

Click here to find out how you can help to make rabies history.

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DONATE AEROPLAN MILES AS YOU EARN

June 30 , 2010 – Aeroplan beyond Miles Members can now automatically donate 2% to VWB/VSB.

Members interested in donating 2 per cent of their Aeroplan Miles simply visit their profile page on aeroplan.com, select the donation opt-in start, cancel and re-start the 2 per cent donation at any time without any limits. Sign up today to help VWB/VSF earn miles and support our work. Click here for more information.

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notice of ANNual genereal meeting

June 1 , 2010 – The Annual General Meeting of Members of VWB/VSF will be held at 5.00 PM MDT on Tuesday July 6, 2010 to elect board directors and to conduct other business. The meeting will be held at the Canadian Veterinary Medicine Association convention in Calgary. Click here for the agenda.

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ECOhealth WorKSHOP in vietnam

April 16 , 2010 – Applications for the first workshop of Building Ecohealth Capacity in Asia are now open. Following the project launch this past January, the workshop, Fundamentals of Ecohealth, will provide participants with an introduction to ecohealth concepts and explore their relevance and applicability to research and policy in Southeast Asia. Participants will help define, identify, and explore how ecohealth approaches are relevant to the management of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in Southeast Asia. The workshop will be held May 27th to 29th in Vietnam. Read news release

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ONE HEALTH FOR ONE WORLD

VWB/VSF, with support from Public Health Agency of Canada, has produced "One Health for One World: A Compendium of Case Studies". Written for dissemination at the 2010 Inter-Ministerial Meeting of the International Partnership on Animal and Pandemic Influenza, this compendium brings together 31 stories of initiatives from around the world that have been informed by one health and ecohealth thinking. Click here to read!

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SYMPOSIUM

VWB/VSF Vice President, Dr. Enid Stiles, will be giving a presentation on our canine work in Guatemala at the 4th International Symposium on Non-surgical Contraceptive Methods of Pet Population Control in Dallas, Texas. The Symposium will take place from April 8-10, 2010 and is presented by the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs (ACC&D) in partnership with the Found Animals Foundation. Please visit the ACC&D website at www.acc-d.org for more information.

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ECOhealth initiative in SE asia

January 27, 2010 – Veterinarians without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières – Canada (VWB/VSF) has launched a major three-year initiative to build ecohealth capacity in six Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

VWB/VSF announced the new initiative on January 19, 2010, as part of a meeting of the Asian Partnership for Emerging Infectious Disease Research (APEIR) in Kunming, China. The launch was observed with a day-long workshop, opened by the chair of the APEIR Steering Committee, Dr. Amin Soebandrio.

Funded primarily by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and building on baseline funding provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the project will build knowledge and skills in ecohealth – an emerging field of study and practice that uses systemic and participatory approaches to understanding and promoting health and wellbeing in the context of complex social-ecological interactions. The project aims to help local ecohealth practitioners identify and reduce factors that contribute to emerging infectious diseases in the region.

A large part of this project will focus on workshops and training events that will bring together VWB/VSF and its many Southeast Asian partners. Together these partners will help drive the project through network development and through the creation of new ecohealth training workshops based on examples from the region. This work will also complement past VWB/VSF workshops and regional community-based agriculture and veterinary projects in which VWB/VSF is a main partner.

"I am very happy to have been invited to this workshop because it has opened my eyes. Using ecohealth approaches allows us to balance different types of knowledge in making decisions. Unless someone takes that role, we cannot see the forest for the trees," said Dr. Iwan Wilyanto, an animal health consultant from Indonesia who was an active participant at the launch.

This project is led by VWB/VSF board member Dr. David Hall of the University of Calgary and managed by VWB/VSF’s Asia Regional Programme Manager Sonia Fèvre. Joining Dr. Hall and Ms. Fèvre at the launch in Kunming were key team members Drs. David Waltner-Toews (VWB/VSF President), Jeff Davidson, and Karen Morrison. Another important contributor, Dr. Bruce Hunter, was unable to attend the launch. Other attendees included investigators from a broad range of government, university, international, and private organizations that are active in the region. This initiative puts VWB/VSF at the forefront of integrated systems approaches to dealing with emerging infectious diseases in Southeast Asia.

APEIR meeting, Kunming, China. January 20, 2010.

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Jo-Ann Smith

January 4, 2010 - We are deeply saddened for the recent death of our beloved friend and colleague Jo-Ann Smith. Our condolences go out to her husband Steve, her daughter Stephanie, her son Jeffrey and all of her family and friends; Jo-Ann will be deeply missed.

Jo-Ann was VWB/VSF’s first employee and our Office Manager extraordinaire. She started working with our organization in 2006 and was responsible for running the VWB/VSF head office in Guelph, ON. Jo-Ann made sure all the details of income and expenses were clear and in order; our formal audits and continued support from CFIA attest to her diligence and hard work. Her tireless commitment to the organization and our international projects was infectious and Jo-Ann was always willing to go the extra mile to help out fellow colleagues and ensure that the VWB/VSF office was running smoothly. Her funeral was on January 2 in Brampton, Ontario. In attendance from VWB/VSF were David Waltner-Toews, Erin Fraser, Roger Thomson, Elroy Mann and his wife Mavis, Ryan Aguanno and Maria Cochrane. Our organization has experienced a tremendous loss and Jo-Ann will forever be remembered.