3 Jan 2023
Vets and other stakeholders are being invited to have their say in a review process that opens next week ahead of the release of a new edition later in 2023.
Allister Webb
Job Title
WSAVA Therapeutic Guidelines Group co-chairperson Paulo Steagall (inset) has called on vets and other stakeholders to share their views. Main image © Africa Studio / Adobe Stock
The WSAVA has announced plans for an open audit of its essential medicines list for cats and dogs, and is urging vets and other stakeholders to take part.
The process is due to get underway Monday 9 January, ahead of the expected release of a revised version later this year.
The guide, believed to be a world first, was launched three years ago with the aim of helping to reduce global inequalities in accessing veterinary medicines.
The issue was a key item on the agenda at the association’s congress in Lima in October and Paulo Steagall, who co-chairs the WSAVA’s Therapeutic Guidelines Group, said it had already proved an important advance in the area.
He said: “We know that it is already supporting regulatory decision-making around licensing, registration and approval, as well as assisting with pharmacovigilance.
“As it was launched in 2020, it is now time for its three-yearly review and, for this, we are calling on the global veterinary community to help us so that we can ensure that the document fulfils its purpose of becoming a key element of the regulatory framework and a useful tool to ensure access to veterinary medicines globally.”
Dr Steagall added: “We are keen to hear from veterinarians, from industry and from all other stakeholders with their suggestions and comments as to what the core and complementary medicines for treating the most frequent and important diseases in small animal companion medicine should be.
“This will ensure that the 2023 edition of the WSAVA Essential Medicines List for Cats and Dogs is fully up to date when we release it later in the year.”
The guide lists both core and complementary medicines, either by drug category or organ system or speciality, and can be downloaded from the WSAVA website.
Submissions should be sent to [email protected] by 31 March. Contributors are asked to review the present definitions online before commenting.
