They care for our beloved companions, but their impact extends far beyond the vet clinic. Animal health professionals play a critical role in safeguarding the well-being of not just our pets, but also our food supply, our environment, and even our own health.

Veterinarians are essential health workers and they must be regarded as an essential and integral part of health at large, says Jaisheila Keshav, Head of Animal Health South Africa at Boehringer Ingelheim. “The application of veterinary science contributes not only to animal health and well-being, but also to humans’ physical, mental and social well-being.

“This dimension of veterinarians’ work often remains invisible to society, but protecting and improving the health of people and their communities is an essential part of the vet profession.”

With this in mind, it is of great concern that South Africa is facing a dire shortage of vets, says Keshav. The international norm is between 200 and 400 veterinarians per million of the population, whereas South Africa only has 60 to 70 veterinarians per million, and about 50% of young vets are looking to emigrate.

In addition, new global data that Boehringer commissioned from Kynetec, surveyed 1,056 companion animal, livestock and equine veterinarians in the US, Japan, UK, France, Brazil, and Germany, and found that only 49% of pet-focused veterinarians believe their profession is appreciated by pet owners.

In addition, only 55% of livestock veterinarians and 42% of equine veterinarians  reported that their profession was appreciated by animal owners. This is concerning, especially as many veterinarians are currently considering leaving their chosen career, most often due to reasons associated with work-life balance and their mental health. Add that to the number of vets emigrating, and South Africa faces an even greater crisis.

Vets are pivotal to our local food security, with veterinarians safeguarding much of our food production by protecting the health and welfare of livestock, and overseeing meat packing plants to ensure all meat is safe for human consumption. They are also crucial to the development of new drugs for both people and animals, finding new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent health disorders in all species.

“The current vet shortage, therefore, is a potential crisis for both animal health, and food safety and security,” says Keshav.

For this reason, she says, Boehringer Ingelheim is committed to supporting the work of vets in South Africa: “Through our Veterinary Public Health (VPH) Centre, we partner with health authorities, governments and NGOs to provide vaccines and control solutions against government-regulated transboundary and emerging diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and rabies.

“We hold the industry’s largest portfolio of vaccine strains against these same diseases. Based on the quality of our vaccines, the technical support provided by our veterinarians, our biological expertise, and our responsiveness to urgent issues, we are recognised as one of the market leaders by governments and NGOs over the world.”

Keshav says Boehringer Ingelheim is committed to understanding why veterinarians feel their profession is underappreciated, raising awareness of often unseen and complex aspects of veterinary work, and most importantly, showing veterinary professionals that their work is recognised as being essential.

“We can’t produce more vets for the country, or do much about the challenges they face, but we can support them with cutting edge innovation and access to the very best in veterinary science,” she concludes.