The OIE and the World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians: a new partnership.

The OIE and the WAVLD have many shared goals and aspirations and the Board of Directors of the WAVLD are very excited and proud of this new partnership. Although the WAVLD is a relatively small organization with limited financial means, it is hoped that our relationship with the OIE will allow us to grow and to possibly provide services beyond the biennial ISWAVLD educational symposia and informal consultations. To be sure, many countries are struggling to build a strong veterinary diagnostic laboratory infrastructure to serve their animal agricultural industries. War-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan are also in great need of help in this realm. Few initiatives have the potential to have such a huge and positive impact on the people and animals of a country like the implementation and operation of a sound veterinary diagnostic laboratory system. However, it will take considerable funds to provide the expert assistance that is necessary to help build such a system. The WFAH proposal is still under consideration by the WAVLD Board. Please contact us with your ideas on this and I will share them with the Board. The WAVLD web site is located at: www.wavld.org.