Significance of Public Private Partnership
In South Africa there are two poultry veterinary sectors, namely the public veterinary services (government) and private veterinary sector. Both of these sectors play a significant role in the country’s biggest and important sector in animal production, poultry.
In the past recent years there have been concerns raised by the national poultry veterinary service, consumer groups and poultry producer groups that:
- The demand for quality meat from consumer has been an on-going challenge;
- Preventing and combating diseases nationally has been impossible to do it;
- The public veterinary services have shown their limitations in providing the comprehensive animal health services needed for poultry development and is unable to reach all areas;
- There has been limitation of area access for private veterinary services to assist in disease prevention;
- The private sector has been providing new technological services to commercial producers only;
- There has been price hiking and fraud;
- There has been absence of clear safe trade based on scientific risk analysis;
- Worrisome of enormous poultry import which is a threat to veterinary public health.
Through the concerns that were raised, it was evident that a lack of co-regulating relationship between the public and private sectors still exist, resulting in the compromise of food safety, animal health and welfare.
To address these problems, the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) saw it fit to establish a veterinary component called the Poultry Disease Management Agency (PDMA) as link that would focus on the protection and health of the National Flock and also strengthen the relationship between the Public and Private veterinary services in addressing animal health issues collectively, The following are the four main areas or focus for the PDMA:
- Food Safety through protection of public health, food and animal inspection;
- Animals or animal products posing risk of spreading diseases;
- Disease control through training of state veterinarians;
- Disease reporting and surveillance.
The successful establishment of PDMA and its initiative role of developing a partnership between the Public and Private sectors have managed to combat poultry diseases. A clear compartmentalisation has been developed to:
- Promote efficiency by exposing business and services to greater possible competition, to the benefit of the consumer;
- Even regular legislation;
- Shift the overload of work from public sector;
- Obtain the best value for each industry or service the government sells;
- Collectively surveillance the main contagious diseases and report it;
- Legal and policy framework for supporting Public Private Partnership (PPP);
- Providing transparent reports to international bodies (OIE) and neighbouring countries collectively;
- Train state veterinarians;
- Host disease contact sessions for both state and private veterinarians;
- Influence public veterinary policy and protocols planning and implementation;
- Deliver high quality and effective services collectively;
- Maintaining public support and funding;
- Nationally standardise and compartmentalisation of bio-security as a disease preventative method.
Given the threat posed by poultry infectious diseases such as Newcastle as well as other zoonotic diseases in South Africa. The aim of co-regulating veterinary services would increase the efficiency and effectiveness of animal health care delivery and, consequently disease free poultry productivity, safeguard public health, and contribute to national development. The end result should be a public veterinary service better able to carry out its redefined responsibilities, a functioning private sector and the necessary supporting personnel and infrastructure able to contribute to the overall objective.
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