WSAVA TGG resources to help you
In addition to problems in accessing medicines, we know that quality is also an issue. With the unavailability of some essential medicines, a ‘black market’ has developed in many countries, in which substandard medicines are bought and sold. Their identity and composition may be misrepresented and they may fail to meet quality standards because of poor manufacturing, shipping or storage conditions. To raise awareness of this issue, the TGG, led by member Dr Melissa Bourgeois, has published a document discussing online pharmacies and another discussing falsified veterinary products which tackle many of the issues. You can read them here:
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Online pharmacies
What advice should you give pet owners?
https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Online-Pharmacies.pdf
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Falsified Veterinary Products
How to recognize falsified veterinary products and what actions to take
https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Falsified-Veterinary-Products.pdf
Tackling this issue is a focus of the next phase of the TGG’s work. As a first step, we are carrying out a pilot study of medicine quality during 2020, coordinated by TGG Committee member Dr Ludovic Pelligand. His survey will focus on the most commonly used antibiotics in companion animals, amoxicillin clavulanate. This is because any deficits in the quality of this antibiotic have direct negative consequences on patient care because of the risk of treatment failure. They also pose additional risks to both animal and public health because of the possible selection of resistant bacteria caused by under-dosing.
The goals of the survey are to:
- Track the origins of falsified or substandard formulations
- Identify regional trends, including differences between countries or between geographical areas within the same country.
We look forward to sharing the results of Dr Pelligand’s work with WSAVA members in early 2021.
Securing global access to veterinary medicines was the theme of our VIP Summit during #WSAVA 2019 in Toronto. The session was led by the TGG
Additional TGG activities to support WSAVA members
The TGG is having a busy year. In a few months’ time it will publish a review article on the definition of responsible/rational antimicrobial use, highlighting the pre- and post-treatment activities that are essential for implementing best antimicrobial practices in small animal medicine. This review will summarize all the available guidelines pertaining to antimicrobial use in companion animals and make them publicly available on the TGG homepage.
The TGG is also working on practical summaries with flow charts, fact sheets and infographics of the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases’ Guidelines for superficial pyoderma, respiratory and urinary tract infections, and translate them into a range of languages in collaboration with the WSAVA Translation Committee.
Finally, it plans to survey WSAVA members in 2021 to find out more about their current antimicrobial use and access to guidelines.