Expressions of interest - WSAVA and HealthforAnimals 'Principles of Wellness' Overview and Expert Group

05 Aug 2022

 

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association and HealthforAnimals, the global animal health association, are developing global ‘Principles of Wellness’ for feline and canine health. The organizations are seeking experts who can provide guidance, input and support to this process.

Overview

The ‘Principles’ would outline the baseline practices that all veterinarians and pet owners should undertake to optimise feline and canine care. This could include items such as:

  • Regular veterinary check-ups
  • Core and booster vaccinations
  • Consistent parasite control
  • Regular diagnostic testing
  • Proper nutrition
  • Consistent physical activity / exercise

The Principles would include relevant data, science and literature to support the recommendations. Much like recent ‘Essential Medicines Lists’, the Principles would recognise that these may not be achievable in all markets for a variety of reasons. However, they represent a goal that all markets can reasonably strive for and achieve with proper public and private support.

Expert Group

WSAVA and HealthforAnimals will assemble an ‘Expert Group’ of five to six individuals who would help the organisations identify principles, source relevant research, and review draft text prior to publication. Expert Group members would be listed in the final publication with thanks for their contributions.

Experts will be needed that can provide a ‘generalist’ perspective to identify the broader principles alongside Experts who can provide ‘specialist’ knowledge to ensure individual principles are properly defined and presented. Some participants may ultimately provide both.

All Expert Group members will be expected to have a background in veterinary science, deep understanding of canine/feline health needs, experience and/or understanding of clinical practice and a global approach to the project. Of course, Members should also be passionate about helping to develop these Principles and able to make time to support development in the coming months.

Expected Workload & Honorarium

Approximately 10-12 hours are expected to be needed from each Expert Group member in the coming months. This may include activities like: phone calls, survey participation, document review, email exchange, etc. To ensure the project moves ahead in a timely manner, clear deadlines will be provided for participation in various activities (e.g. review by a certain date) and no response will generally be considered as ‘no objection’ to items provided.

An honorarium of USD$1500/EUR€1500 (or the local currency equivalent) is available for Expert Group members from the WSAVA network.

Timeline

The Principles project will kick off in September/October 2022, with a goal of publishing in Q1 2023. WSAVA and HealthforAnimals are discussing the possibility of building on the principles with a ‘Global Pet Health Index’ that surveys owners and/or veterinarians to understand how well principles are being achieved in key markets.

Expressions of interest

Individuals interested in joining the Expert Group can register expressions of interest here, or alternatively contact Alex Rinkus (HealthforAnimals), and Rich Casey (WSAVA). Expressions of interest are due by August 31 2022.