4
Veterinary Public Health Centre for Asia Pacific:
the knowledge and collaborative center for veterinary public health in the region
Social and environmental changes contribute to many complex diseases which include transboundary animal diseases (TADS) and zoonoses. A One Health concept, which does not only involve a scientific approach but also integrates various disciplines, is applied to be able to properly manage such problems effectively. Such coordination now exists and is continuously evolving between various agencies government and the private sector within countries, the region and internationally to benefit human, animal and environmental health.
Policy messages
- VPHCAP is the collaboration center of region and international organizations in veterinary public health which are involved in concerns of food of animal origin and zoonoses.
- The main obligation of VPHCAP is to expand and increase veterinary public health knowledge to the government and private sectors in Thailand and to the regional level.
- VPHCAP is the first center offering the joint Master of Science course in Veterinary Public Health (Dual Degree) with Freie Universität Berlin, Germany and Master of Public Health (Double Degree International Program) with University of Minnesota and also has organized numbers of international workshop and conference continually.
Why was the Veterinary Public Health Centre
for Asia Pacific established?
The faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University (CMU) has collaborated with the
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie
Universitaet Berlin (FU-Berlin), Germany since 1999 to conduct activities regularly with researchers and experts from various countries. This aims to establish the center status of the university in veterinary public health, a multidisciplinary science which tackles issues related to food of animal origin, disaster prevention in zoonoses, and academic ability of trade negotiation in the international stage.
Chiang Mai University agreed to the management of an institution which continues to effectively achieve the goals of the project as a premiere center of education, which is internationally certified.
The curriculum is aimed to produce and develop human resources in cooperation with FU-Berlin to establish the Veterinary Public Health Centre for Asia Pacific (VPHCAP) in order to address Veterinary Public Health issues and respond to needs in food production and trade of animal origin of the countries in South East Asia and Greater Mae Kong Sub-Region.