Botswana Veterinary Surgeons Council Launches Website for Accountability

Gaborone — Botswana Veterinary Surgeons Council (BVSC) has launched a website to strengthen professional accountability and help farmers identify legitimate veterinary practitioners. "The digital platform will make it easier for farmers and animal owners to verify whether a veterinary practitioner is registered with the council, helping to reduce incidents involving imposters posing as veterinarians, Assistant Minister of Lands and Agriculture Mr Motsamai Motsamai said at the launch on Monday. He said the council had in recent years been concerned about individuals who claimed to offer veterinary services posing as qualified veterinarians while defrauding farmers. He said such incidents harmed farmers and undermined public confidence in the veterinary profession. Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines The Assistant Minister said the website would also allow veterinary professionals to submit registration applications online, thereby simplifying the process and reducing administrative delays. He said the digital platform would make the Council's services more accessible to both local and international applicants, noting that it would further improve public awareness of the BVSC and its mandate particularly its role in safeguarding animal health, food safety and public health. He said the council had previously faced challenges of limited digital visibility and accessibility with the absence of a fully functional website making it difficult for professionals and stakeholders to access information and services. Mr Motsamai said the development of the website was therefore timely given the growing reliance on digital platforms to access information and services. "The establishment of a strong regulatory framework for the veterinary profession had taken several years, with government initiating a review of the veterinary regulatory framework in 1998.The process culminated in the passing of the Veterinary Surgeons Act in 2008, which formally established the BVSC as the statutory body responsible for regulating veterinary practice in Botswana," he added. Mr Motsamai said the council was officially appointed and launched in 2012 and had since worked to establish systems aimed at ensuring that veterinary professionals were properly regulated. He said such regulations were important in protecting animal health, public health as well as the interests of livestock owners and farmers. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He described the website launch as more than the introduction of a digital platform as it represented progress towards modern, transparent and accessible regulation. He said it also reflected the council's commitment to improving service delivery, strengthening professional accountability and protecting the public. He commended the BVSC for the initiative and its continued efforts to strengthen regulation of the veterinary profession in Botswana. Read the original article on Botswana Daily News . AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily fr