Introduction
The 6th REEV-Med General Assembly was coupled with the 5th Congress of Tunisian Veterinary Technical Groups (GTVT) held on 13 and 14 December 2017 in Hammamet (Tunisia). The General Assembly was honored by the presence (courtesy visit) of the Tunisian Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, H.E. Samir Taïeb who welcomed the participants, along with Dr. Malek Zrelli, Chief Veterinary Officer of Tunisia. The General Assembly was chaired by the President, Prof. Nihad Fejzić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and gathered about 20 Deans or representatives from the Veterinary Education Establishments based in the Mediterranean basin (Albania, Algeria, Turkey, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt). The list of participants is available in Annex 1. The Assembly had also the invaluable contribution of the Honorary President of the REEV-Med Association, Professor André Laurent Parodi.
Prof Parodi congratulated the OIE Secretariat for the organisation of the meeting as well as the members of the Executive Committee that prepared clear documents suitable documents for the General Assembly. He stressed the participants on the importance of having new Statutes for the Association with clear objectives and, in particular, that referring to the evaluation process for the relevant veterinary education establishments (VEEs) belonging to the network. Today, only one VEE embarked the process of evaluation with the hope that in the future other VEEs will start the same process.
Dr Rachid Bouguedour (OIE Sub-Regional Representative for North Africa), reminded the origin and the principles behind the creation of REEV-Med and envisaged that this Mediterranean network could be become a reference for other regions in the word such as in Southern-Eastern African and Central Asia. In this context, he recalled that the President of REEV-Med participated in the sixth annual meeting of Deans and Principals of Faculties and Schools of Veterinary Medicine or Science was held in Lusaka (Zambia) on 20 and 21 June 2017 and Kazakhstan requested information about the functioning of the network.
Moral report
The President gave an overview to the audience about the moral report by summarising the activities of the network conducted since the previous General Assembly held in Palermo in June 2016. He reminded the main outcomes of the Executive Committee had in January 2017 in Tunis as well as the steps followed for the preparation of this General Assembly in collaboration with the OIE secretariat (OIE Sub-Regional Representation for North Africa). More than 100 invitation letters were dispatched.
Financial report
The financial report of the Association was presented by the Treasurer, Dr Isabelle Chmitelin (France) who provided an overview of the membership fees. In the course of 2017, it was noted an increase of the subscriptions to the network and during the General Assembly several participants – not yet members – showed interest in adhering to REEV-Med. The President, after the review, requested to all participants to remind this financial aspect to the VEEs present in their respective countries for those faculties that has not yet paid for 2017. He also announced that a new letter will be sent to all members by the President for requesting the annual fees for 2018.
Dr Chmitelin recalled the significant OIE financial contribution when organising the REEV-Med meeting (Executive Committee and General Assembly) that did not appear in the financial report and suggested that this support should be part of the next reporting. In this context, Dr Bouguedour, informed the participants about the main steps used by the OIE to financially support such meetings and took the opportunity to thank the Italian Government because funded this General Assembly. It was also discussed the current method used to select participants to be funded by the OIE (about 20 Deans) that could be improved – for the next time – by enhancing the communication between the members of the network. The issue related to the possibility of inviting private faculties in the network was also discussed and it was noted that this sensitive issue is under discussion within the EAEVE and – for the moment – the private faculties are not part of the EAEVE. Members of the network agreed that – today – reference should be done to the Article 4 of the REEV-Med Statutes “Article 4: REEV-Med membership is opened for any Veterinary Education Establishment (VEE) of Mediterranean countries, recognised by a competent ministerial authority and whose degree is approved by the authorities of each country, and pays the annual fees as set up by the General Assembly.”
The President reminded the crucial support the REEV-Med received from OIE since the creation of the network and that actually assured its persistency. Therefore, the President invited the members of the network to actively contribute in order to make the network more visible and more attractive for donors with concrete projects. In this respect, Dr Bouguedour informed the participants about the functioning of another network called “REMESA (REseau MEditerranéen de Santé Animale)”- for which the OIE Office assures the secretariat – that today is attracting several donors because this network is providing concrete results.
The President, stressed the audience in sharing ideas and win-win developing projects to attract donors and, in parallel, envisaged the possibility that in the future the OIE could decide – for any reason – to no longer sustain REEV-Med and, therefore, the network should be in the position of being self-sustainable. The REEV-Med should support and guide the members of the network in building such project proposals.
Presentation and approval of the new REEV-Med Statute
The President presented to the audience – article by article – the new Statute that was reviewed and amended by the Executive Committee during their meeting held in January 2017 in Tunis (Tunisia). Prof Parodi, after the presentation, stated that this new Statute is clearly written and congratulated the members of the Executive Committee. Other members also expressed positive feedbacks about the new Statute and, therefore, this Statute of the Association was approved unanimously by the General Assembly. This new Statute expanded the REEV-Med mission and improved the clarity and simplicity of the procedures and management of the Association. The main objectives of the REEV-Med Association are summarised as follows:
o to promote a process of evaluation, harmonization and standardization of veterinary curricula among the VEE members of the Association, in accordance with relevant international standards including the OIE recommendations on the minimum competencies (“Day 1 graduates”);
o to improve the quality of veterinary education dispensed by those members that are not yet recognised by any international accreditations procedure;
o to assist the Association’s VEE members to be prepared for international evaluation of veterinary education;
o to promote teaching staff and students exchanges between its members in the region as well as with institutions in others parts of the world;
o to facilitate twinning or similar projects between VEE members within the region;
o to promote and facilitate development of research capacity and distribution of veterinary education materials;
o to support the steps towards international accreditations;
o to provide assistance to its members in order to facilitate the development of the curricula and the adjustment of their teaching methods.
This Statute – as approved – is available (in English and French versions) in Annex 2 for any relevant and suitable registration purpose.
Cooperation initiatives and “One Health” topic
Prof. Gatta (Italy) presented the cooperation initiative between the veterinary educational establishments of Bologna (Italy) and Tunis (Tunisia) that started in 2017 under the framework of REEV-Med, underlining that this network has certainly facilitated this interaction. In February, 2017, the University of Bologna has launched a call to promote the international cooperation with extra-UE Universities where bilateral agreements were already active. The project was based on the existing agreement with the University of El Manar (Tunis) and was focused on “West Nile Disease” which has been a topic agreed between the two partners. The active participation of the OIE Sub-Regional representation of the project was also highlighted. However, it was stressed by Prof Gatta that this project should be regarded as a starting point for the promotion of further joint training events directed towards “One Health” medical and veterinarian professionals on increasingly urgent issues in the Mediterranean area.
Prof. Ehab Abu-Basha (Jordan) presented the progress and action plan for the Association of American Veterinary Medical College’s (AAVMC) Council on International Veterinary Medical Education (CIVME) and possible collaboration with REEV-Med was also discussed by opening potential future common initiatives. He presented the CIVME’s strategic focus on three key areas:
o Encourage collaboration between educators to share best practices and ideas.
o Contact, interact, and engage with educators to create network of global educators.
o Stimulate new ideas and research, as well as provide an outlet for sharing them
Possible collaboration between REEV-Med and CIVME were showed such as since both REEV-Med and CIVME have common interests. The potential cooperation were presented as follows:
o Work together toward high standards and best practice.
o Collaboration among educational researchers.
o Sharing Resources.
o Apply to CIVME Funding Program.
o Identify Focal Point in each country/region.
Dr Rachid Bouguedour (OIE Sub-Regional Representative for North Africa) gave a presentation on “One Health” by focusing the topic on antimicrobial resistance. The Tripartite initiatives (OIE/WHO/FAO) were highlighted and he invited the participants to bring this very important issue within the training courses because strong educational campaign and cooperation among all stakeholders is needed to face this challenge.
Dr Chmitelin informed the participants that France has national plan to reduce the risks of antimicrobial resistance in veterinary medicine (Ecoantibio) and that this subject is an integral part of teaching course at the Veterinary National School of Toulouse. The faculty is dedicated particular attention to this subject and she stressed that in addition to teaching the matter – for VEEs – it is important also to conduct research and finding solutions to be tested and implemented in the field. She added that another important and relevant subject to be considered – in light of recent avian influenza epidemics – by the VEEs and for REEV-Med network is the biosecurity issue especially at poultry farm level.
The President of REEV-Med was invited to participated in the sixth annual meeting of Deans and Principals of Faculties and Schools of Veterinary Medicine or Science was held in Lusaka (Zambia) on 20 and 21 June 2017 (where several countries were present such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Mauritius, Tanzania…..) in order to share the REEV-Med experience since the Southern-Eastern African VEEs would like to establish an Association. REEV-Med was considered as example and, consequently, the President would share with them the new Statute, the mandate and objectives of REEV-Med and certainly would assist them as appropriate.
Prof Daniele De Meneghi (Italy) provided an overview about their activities with the VVEs in Morocco (Rabat, l’Institut agronomique et vétérinaire Hassan II) and in Albania (Tirana). In particular, he mentioned the project approved under the framework of ERASMU+ and related mobility of professors and students (between European countries and eligible partners out of EU). He confirmed that the first phase of the project developed with IAV Hassan II was funded, implemented and reported. The second phase has been also approved and would be implemented in the coming months. Prof. De Meneghi stated that North African countries are a priority for EU and then a significant amount of funds would be available for the Mediterranean basin. He suggested exploring if REEV-Med would be eligible to apply in support of bilateral or multilateral projects between the VEEs. Although with some limitations, it is worth mentioning that, lately, the programme Erasmus+ supports also traineeships (work placements, internship….) abroad for students currently enrolled in higher education and these opportunities are also open to recent graduates (https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/opportunities/traineeships-students_en).
The President refereed also to EU Cost Action (http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions) which is a tool available that could facilitate to establish synergies and collaboration with research projects thus enhancing the networking and potential consortium with common topics between members of REEV-Med. Based on the experience of European countries on using this tool, the President suggested that EU VEEs could lead the process of building projects.
During the General Assembly was also discussed the possibility of establishing joint programme between VEEs and the example of joint program between the Cairo University and Georgia State University (Faculty of Commerce) with the objective of providing dual certificates. While the initiative is attracting, some hesitations were raised by the participants because of complicated administrative procedures.
Dr Chmitelin, informed the participants about the InterRisk Master’s double degree programme currently in place between Kastesart Unviversity (Bangkok, Thailand) and Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse, France). This program allows students to join international and cross-sectorial networks of professionals involved in One Health approaches. To this end, it was suggested that the integrated management of tropical diseases could a subject of interest for REEV-Med members.
Election of the Secretary General of REEV Med
Prof. Abdelfettah Ettriqui was elected – unanimously – as Secretary General of REEV-Med to replace Prof. Samir Benrhomdane who resigned from his position. Prof Abdelfettah Ettriqui is the new director of the National School of Veterinary Medicine of Sidi Thabet (ENMV).
Concerning the evaluation process embarked by the National School of Veterinary Medicine of Sidi Thabet, Prof. Abdelfettah Ettriqui (Director of the National School of Veterinary Medicine of Sidi Thabet, Tunisia), informed the participants that the visit scheduled with the experts from the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) has been postponed until 4-5 March2018.
Summary and conclusions
The President encouraged the members of REEV-med to develop and integrate AMR training courses as common issue for all VEEs belonging to the network as well as additional topics such as bioterrorism and biosecurity which are attracting particular attention and relevance at EU level.
The President proposed to the Deans to appoint a focal point in charge of following technical and relevant follow up of the initiative of each REEV-Med members. In this respect, the President would send an official letter to all Deans of REEV-Med members to request such designation.
The President also announced that a dedicated website will be in operation in the next couple of months and, therefore, will request to members materials to be posted on the website. However, it was highlighted that the challenge is to manage and to keep updated the website over time.
A table will be prepared and sent to members of the REEV Med network – in the next months – where to assemble all the cooperation activities being conducted in the Mediterranean basin by the VEEs in order to make the state of play and therefore plan further coordinated and common projects. In this table (which is an internal document) will be collected additional information (type of accreditation, status of the accreditation/certification, number of students, type of research, mobility of students…….) in a harmonised and structured manner in order to better plan and coordinate further projects and activities.
Current resources and tools today available (e.g. Erasmus+, EU COST Action….) will be explored by the members of REEV-Med with the objective of finding suitable topics and project (mobility, development….) to be funded.
The next General Assembly will be in 2018 held in Turkey (the identified period is end of September 2018) and will be coupled with a scientific event.
The next Executive meeting will be held in the week of 9-15 April 2018 (the dates and place will be identified at later stage).
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