Equine Health Update EHU 2019 Issue 04 | Page 5

As a continuation of what my predecessor Manfred Rohwer had been working on during his term as Chairman, we needed to create an efficienct operating structure. SAEVA has outgrown its original constitution so a whole new constitution needed to be written. It will be ratified at this year’s AGM. It can we read under the relevant banner on www.saeva.co.za. Essentially SAEVA copied the SAVA structure with a Board of directors group (BOD) and federal council group. The BOD fulfills all the legal requirements of the Companies Act. In future SAEVA will always have nine directors. They are the Chair, Incoming Chair, the Immediate Past Chair, Secretary , Treasurer, two Regional Representatives and two Head of Committees. All posts are held for two years. All positions except for Chairman, Immediate Past Chairman and the two Heads of Committees are elected at the AGM on every second year. The Heads of Committee are invited onto the committee by the BOD. The BOD will meet four times a year. we need to partner with a company that has all the right credentials and backing to present the correct documents to the now “MCC”. At the moment we have the backing of a local company but are battling to find an international company with the right credentials to assist in this matter. It is a painfully slow process that we are following. Another initiative that SAEVA undertook this year was to enter into a dialogue with all the major insurance companies . I think we will all agree that in today’s difficult economic times a good relationship with the insurance industry is mutually beneficial. In recent times, with more of our patients being insured, some confusion has crept into the equine veterinary industry. The first meeting held in September 2019 was a “get-together” to discuss issues of mutual concern. The second meeting will happen at the congress in the form of panel discussion evaluating case reports. Please provide any questions that you have to Angela Rogers. The Federal Council (Fedco) of SAEVA comprises all the members of the BOD as well as the rest of the Regional Members and the rest of the Committees Chairman’s. Election for the Regional Representatives is every second year. Committee Chairs are nominated from the BOD. The BOD reports to Fedco. Fedco will meet twice a year. As a committee we have also attempted to communicate better with out members over the last two years with both the introduction of a WhatsApp group as well as a Facebook page. These have a modicum of success but as with all communication issues they are only reasonably accurate. Should you not be on any of these groups please contact Johnny Cave. The next election will be at the SAEVA Congress, held at Skukuza in February 2020. Nomination forms will be sent out in due course. Please remember to participate in the election process. Thank you once again for allowing me to serve as your Chairman for the last two years. It has been an honor and a privilege. Thanks once again to my committee for all the assistance over the last two years. An ongoing issue that SAEVA has been working on is an attempt to legalize the use of Phemnylbutazone (Pbz) in SA again. As you all know, Pbz was banned for use some six years ago now. SAEVA has been attempting to resurrect its use in SA , not with much success at the moment. After taking some legal advice early in 2018 it was decided to abandon the approach whereby we would force the then MCC to negotiate with us. Instead it was decided to attempt a re-register the use of Pbz in the country. For this • Volume 21 Issue 4 | December 2019 • 5