New marketing authorisations     Marketing Authorisations issued/published in October 2019     Product Name Active ingredient Authorisation Holder Public Assessment Report to be made available from VMD? Doxycare Flavour 40 mg tablets for cats and dogs Doxycycline Ecuphar NV No – RMS Ireland Doxycare Flavour 200 mg tablets for cats and dogs Doxycycline Ecuphar NV ...

As you may already be aware, from 14 December 2019, new European regulations - Smarter Rules for Safer Food (SRSF) - will be introduced. Collectively these will replace 70 existing European directives and regulations to modernise and improve health and safety standards for the agri-food chain.   SRSF introduces two new regulations from 14 December 2019: Official Controls Regulation (OCR) and Plant Health Regulation (PHR). A third, Animal Health Regulation (AHR), applies on 21 April 2021. For the moment it is the OCR which concerns your business.   The new regulations will apply to the UK whilst we are a member of the EU and during any transition period. Even if we leave the EU without a deal, the regulations will be retained by the Withdrawal Act and will continue to apply subject to any amendments Parliament may agree. You are receiving this communication now as we have been waiting for confirmation concerning the new SRSF systems and guidance.   What will be changing from 14 December 2 ...

The following products were seized by a VMD inspector during a routine inspection of a veterinary practice:

• 7 x 100 tablet packs of Sucrabest 1g

Sucrabest 1g is a non-UK authorised human product. This product can only be administered under Schedule 4 (Administration of a veterinary medicinal product outside the terms of a marketing authorisation) of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR) by vets who hold a valid Special Import Certificate (SIC). No such certificate was held by this practice.

The possession of these products is an offence under regulation 26 (Possession of an unauthorised veterinary medicinal product) of the VMR

Rosie Olley, Taja Vajs and Graham Duncanson travelled to Kiev, Ukraine in October to speak at the annual 3 day Equine Veterinary Seminar covering topics of internal medicine, orthopedics, dentistry and general practice. 

Leg Up coach Fiona Georgetti tells us about her Leg Up journey so far and what it's really like to be a coach. "When I saw the BEVA appeal for ‘Leg Up’ or career coaching 12 months ago, I can’t say I knew exactly what it was, but I saw that it was the brain child of past BEVA President Renate Waller, so I  knew that it was bound to be entertaining, and I saw that it was designed to help new graduates in the first stages of their career.  In my job, I find that I enjoy helping out recent graduates where I can, and find it rewarding seeing their confidence grow.  I saw this training as a chance to be able to better support graduates within our own practice, as well as being a rare opportunity to learn a completely new skill and hopefully help other people.     I tentatively applied for the Coaching Course. I mistakenly thought that all Coaches had to be high flying career vets to be Career Coaches, and I don’t have a different Certificate for everyday of ...

In a first for the profession, 15 of the major UK member organisations, vet schools and policy-making bodies have today come together to affirm their commitment to veterinary medicine based on sound scientific principles, in a new landmark publication produced by RCVS Knowledge and the charity Sense about Science. Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Matters: Our Commitment to the Future represents the first time this broad and influential group have formally united in support of a single issue. This unprecedented collaboration is testament to the importance that veterinary organisations across the profession place on the use of evidence to enhance all types of veterinary medicine. The publication serves to demonstrate the profound and wide-ranging impact that evidence can have – and has had – on animal health and welfare. It also provides a convincing rationale for all veterinary professionals to contribute to the evidence base and put evidence into practice, to the benefit of animals, owners ...

1. Introduction   Following temporary changes to the Equine Influenza vaccination requirements earlier this year, we indicated that we would be consulting on changes to the permanent EI vaccination rule prior to the end of 2019.   This notice is to advise that this consultation will now take place in 2020.  Until this consultation is complete, the current vaccination requirements for all horses on racecourse property will remain in place.    The current temporary requirements will remain in place for the duration of 2020.   This follows  a meeting of the European Horseracing Scientific Liaison Committee (EHSLC) in early October, where proposed changes were agreed by the Committee after considering advice from a number of experts in equine infectious disease. Other European racing jurisdictions will be carrying out similar consultations in 2020, with the aim of achieving harmonised vaccination requirements for racehorses across Europe.   With that in mind,  ...

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has released an article highlighting to vets the stem cell-based veterinary medicines available in the UK for horses. Two of which have become the first to be granted EU-wide marketing authorisation. 

Read the full report here

The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA), together with its official research publication The Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ), is providing practical support and enhancing knowledge during European Antibiotic Awareness Day 18 November 2019. The intention is to encourage the continued reduction of the use of critically important antibiotics. BEVA is running a survey to find out more about antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in practice and has added further practical elements to its PROTECT ME Toolkit online resources. Meanwhile the EVJ will publish a special online collection of previously published articles ‘Antimicrobials in an age of resistance’ on 18 November 2019. The survey, which was launched at BEVA Congress in September and has had 262 veterinary responses to date, aims to assess any changes in prescribing of antimicrobials in equine practice since the last survey in 2009. The results will also provide an insight on the current frequency and types of antimicrobial res ...

The results of the second FVE survey have been released. Conducted between November 2018 and March 2019 and answered by more than 14,5000 participants, the objective of the survey is to help understand the current situation of the veterinary profession and to evaluate what actions shall be taken to shape the future of the profession. The veterinary sector as it is today The findings suggest that the majority of European vets in the future will be female - while in 2018 58% of veterinarians of all ages were female, 82% of those under 30 were female. The study also showed that only 37% of vets feel that they are very highly or highly regarded by the general public, leading the FVE Executive Director to state that "an improved communication of what veterinarians contribute to European society is key". The survey also confirmed that the use of preventive treatments such as vaccines are increasing, whilst the use of antibiotics decreases, in line with attempts to avoid antimicrobial resistance. The future outlo ...