For two days Padua, the city of Saint Anthony, will be the world capital of veterinary medicine. It will host the ‘G7 Chief Veterinary Officers’ Meeting’ on 16 – 17 October 2024 – an event that brings together the veterinary delegations of the most industrialised countries to take stock of the state of animal health on our planet.
The event is promoted by the Italian Ministry of Health in the framework of the G7 Health meeting and in collaboration with the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe) and the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia-Romagna (IZSLER), under the patronage of the Veneto Region and the Municipality of Padua, and with the support of the Padua Chamber of Commerce. The G7 will be attended by the Chief Veterinary Officers of Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as representatives of the most important international health organisations, such as the European Commission, FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). In total, about 50 delegates from Italy and abroad are expected to arrive.
The meeting opens on Wednesday 16 October at the Caffè Pedrocchi, with two technical sessions dedicated to zoning and biosecurity in livestock farming, crucial elements to strengthen disease control at a global level and ensure safe trade in animals and food products. The event aims to stimulate a G7 discussion on improving the control and prevention tools needed to preserve the health status of animals, with a specific focus on the use of drugs – antibiotics in particular.
The official opening ceremony will be held in the Aula Magna (Great Lecture Hall) of the University of Padua and will be inaugurated with a video-message by the Undersecretary for Health, Honourable Marcello Gemmato. The Director General of the IZSVe, Antonia Ricci, the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) at the Ministry of Health, Ugo Della Marta, the Mayor of the Municipality of Padua, Sergio Giordani, the President of the Health Commission of the Veneto Region, Sonia Brescacin, will be present. The Director of the Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health of the University of Padua, Alessandro Zotti, the Director General of WOAH Emmanuelle Soubeyran, and the USDA APHIS Senior Veterinary Advisor at the FAO, Amy Delgado will also be attending the event.
“Many are the issues that will be discussed with our international partners”, says Antonia Ricci, Director General of the IZSVe “We will do so under the One Health approach, a concept that has now become common heritage and will lead to new ways of dealing with the diseases that threaten human and animal health”.
The Veterinary G7 meeting will continue on Thursday with the plenary session and the drafting of the final document, and will conclude on Friday with a visit to the Latterie Vicentine in Bressanvido (Vicenza Province), to Femogas, the largest European Biogas Association located in Schiavon (Province of Vicenza) and to the famous Poli distillery.
