Government is being called upon to put up a comprehensive policy on tick and tick disease control. It is instead depending on an obsolete law that states that Ugandans who own cattle must dip their cattle because then there were public dips for livestock owners.The problematic ticks include Rhipicephalus sanguineus , Boophilus and Ambylome. Florence Kasirye an Independent Veterinary Professional notes that this is no longer an issue with the current situation because the decentralization policy gave that law of establishing tick control facilities to local governments. However, they do not have the financial resources to establish public tick dips which leaves the burden to local farmers. She also faults privatization and liberalization that removed the role of Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries in terms of controlling which individual should use which acaricides. In a research carried out to establish how ticks can be controlled, Dr Kasirye says they also focused on the delivery of veterinary services policy which recognizes all cattle diseases which found that tick borne disease are private good diseases and not public. This means that if the private farmers call on the public sector to spend money on them, they quote the policy saying it’s a private responsibility. The National Veterinary Drug Policy which gives responsibilities and roles to different institutions yet for some of them, it is silent on what should be done to control ticks. Earlier on President Yoweri Museveni at the same tick control meeting questioned why veterinary extension workers are failing to educate farmers on what kind of acaricides should be used to control ticks. Dr Kasirye revealed the study findings indicating that for each veterinary extension worker, they have to cover two to three sub counties. This means each extension worker is responsible for 2800 households that have livestock including cattle, goats, pigs, rabbits, sheep and poultry. On the other hand under the National Agricultural Advisory service which effective financial year 2013/2014 changes to a single spine extension system has one worker for 1800 households that have various kinds of livestock. This is worsened by the fact that each district sets its own priorities yet the NAADS recruited workers are asked to look after the priorities that the district has chosen and not a famer’s priorities. She thus calls on government to revise its policy of recruitment of extension workers and not leave it to the private sector and establish a clear veterinary structure. She advises government that once recruited the extension workers must be regulated thus the need to revise the regulatory law to cover workers from certificate to degree level. There is also need to adequately finance the secretariat that regulates them. Regulate the numerous adverts and marketing materials under the veterinary sector. The research also proposes restructuring of the National Drug authority with a veterinary directorate. However, after Dr Kasirye’s presentations, President Museveni dismissed some of the findings saying he has political connections to prove that there are enough veterinary extension workers. Turyaguma Wilberforce MP Kashari also a farmer told the meeting in support of President Museveni that the workers are available but they do not have facilitation. Dr Dominic Mundrugo-Ogo Lali President Uganda Veterinary Association however in agreement with Dr Kasirye says the solution is to review the laws, restore the chain of command and ensure all veterinary personnel are in the field. He also calls for respect of the code of conduct by all veterinarians and undergo annual continued professional refresher training.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:38:11 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015